I never thought Tumblr could teach me something, but it did. Tumblr posts taught me that a popular ideal possessed by its average user is a fucking beauty train wreck fantasy*.

This image (taken from a randomly selected Tumblr, removed link for privacy) is a perfect example.

For starters, it’s of a young girl. A young girl with brunette hair, hinting at a straight bang. This is not just any hair, you guys. This young girl has long brown wavy hair tangled-in-just-the-right-means. The only time I’ve ever seen hair like this, is in photographs and on Cobrasnake, and of course - here. But look, you guys, she is also wearing an ugly top. She just doesn’t give a fuck. She’s wearing an ugly top, not giving a fuck, smoking that cigarette from her shitty apartment window. ‘Cause she’s a bad ass. She’s so bad ass, she doesn’t have art on the wall. She doesn’t need another person’s vision to define her own. She doesn’t need pants either. No, not ever! She’s on fire with her life, in her ugly top, squatting in her hospital-fashioned apartment, with her knotty hair. Shit…I bet she has a tattoo on her inner wrist too.

*Tumblr also taught me that my life would look significantly more profound if everything was filtered at 30% saturation, S curve low contrast, with a burnt layer of tan and an 10% navy layer on exclusion.