Mirrored pictures of me - will he be disappointed?

[Rosary]

Hi!

This might seem like a weird question! But I have been thinking about this for several days.

I just found out that people don't look like the person they see in the mirror, because it is a reversed image of themselves. And I think that my cellphone, that I take pictures of myself with, automatically makes the pictures look like the person I see in the mirror (unless I disable this feature). In other words, that is not what I look like to other people!

I have a long distance boyfriend. I have never met him in real life before, but I will meet him soon. He has seen pictures of me, but I realized that he has only seen pictures taken from my cellphone, which means he has only seen the mirrored image of me. I tried to disable the mirror image feature on my cellphone just to see what I looked like, and took some pictures, and I look so horrible when I don't look like the person I see in the mirror. I look like a monster or something! And obviously that is what I look like to other people. My boyfriend thinks that I am very good looking. But what if he meets me, and realizes that I look different than in the (mirrored) pictures, and becomes very disappointed with the way I look?! Thinking about that, freaks me out (I suffer from an anxiety disorder by the way).

Why do I look so different and even ugly when the pictures are not mirrored? And what should I do now?

[Harlequin]

You don't look different or ugly when the pictures aren't mirrored, no worries! It's just that you're more accustomed to seeing the mirrored version of yourself, so you end up interpreting your image as being a little off when you actually see yourself as others see you. You look just as lovely in person as you look when you're mirrored. Your boyfriend thinks you're good looking for the simple fact that you are, and you really don't need to worry about him being disappointed in your appearance. If anything, he'll be even more attracted to you in person.

Try to remind yourself that you're still beautiful, and it only looks strange because you're not used to it. Maybe take more pictures when your camera isn't mirroring so you get more acquainted with your face viewed that way. Overall, don't worry about it. You look just fine

[pizza_heart]

what? mirror image or not, it's the same thing. I don't know where did you get that info from but common sense dictates otherwise. If he is in for the looks, he is in for the wrong reasons. Do you really wanna be with someone who would only be with you for your looks? Also, not to be rude but how old are you? I suffer from anxiety too but you need to embrace yourself as you are, unless you totally catfished the guy with that mirror theory or whatever.

[Rosary]

You don't look different or ugly when the pictures aren't mirrored, no worries! It's just that you're more accustomed to seeing the mirrored version of yourself, so you end up interpreting your image as being a little off when you actually see yourself as others see you. You look just as lovely in person as you look when you're mirrored. Your boyfriend thinks you're good looking for the simple fact that you are, and you really don't need to worry about him being disappointed in your appearance. If anything, he'll be even more attracted to you in person.

Try to remind yourself that you're still beautiful, and it only looks strange because you're not used to it. Maybe take more pictures when your camera isn't mirroring so you get more acquainted with your face viewed that way. Overall, don't worry about it. You look just fine

Hi there!
Thank you very much for your reply! It calmed me down. I'm glad that I don't look different or ugly when the pictures aren't mirrored. I have been worrying so much about that the past few days.

[Rosary]

what? mirror image or not, it's the same thing. I don't know where did you get that info from but common sense dictates otherwise. If he is in for the looks, he is in for the wrong reasons. Do you really wanna be with someone who would only be with you for your looks? Also, not to be rude but how old are you? I suffer from anxiety too but you need to embrace yourself as you are, unless you totally catfished the guy with that mirror theory or whatever.

I have read a lot of articles about that mirror thing online.
Yes, I wouldn't stay with him if he said: "You're uglier than in the pictures" or something like that when I eventually meet him, because I don't want to be with someone who only cares about looks. I am 19 years old.

[Honour]

You're reading too much into this. Way too much. I'm not sure what to make of what you said in your original post, but what your reflection or mirror or photos taken by your phone show you about your image isn't really what your boyfriend will see. And honestly, what's more important? His like of your looks, or the representation you see in the glass, or on a screen/piece of paper...?

[differentcountries]

I am sorry, but yourself in the mirror, or on the phone, or whatever, is NOT what people see. People don't see a static picture, they see us and our body language and hear our voice and all those little things add up to "who we are" to other people. I find it very odd when I listen to recordings of myself speak, I think I sound like a man, haha, but others say that well, I sound exactly like on the tape but that is not a strange thing - it is just DIFFERENT from the voice that I hear inside myself because obviously I hear my own voice from somewhere else. It is a bit like that with pictures. I will never see myself exactly as others see me, it is just not possible. I have to rely on knowing somewhat of what I look like to other people and hopefully that is ok and good. I also think that people I know look very different from the pics they usually present themselves with - I don't think SO look very much like himself in the pic on my profile (unless he is posing for work, he is not that comfortable having his pic taken, or being the center of attention of any kind). It does not matter.

You probably don't look very much like a monster. If your boyfriend has seen your pics he knows something about how you look, when you meet up he will know more. Actually, if you talk on skype it is easier for him to "see" you because there you will also see the body language. that is a far easier option than trying to take pics of yourself in the mirror - which just shows a person taking a piture, after all...