NØSES

My nose is large. My nose is curved. My nose is me. Have you ever noticed the diversity of noses? Have you ever looked at a person’s nose and question its design? Everyone’s nose has a story, like me. I was bullied for my nose’s shape and wideness. I’d get teased for the small arch that is visible in my side profile. I personally contain the ingredients of: Italian, Hungarian, German, Native American, and African American. Yes, I am a mutt, and yes I have heard all of it before. As a child I would research how old I would have to be to get a nose job, how much it would cost, and all the health factors that would affect the procedure. I was in elementary school, mind you, and no 9 year old should be worried about their appearance at the level that I was. I should have been playing outside, rather than obsessing over my unique nose. Even my mother would poke fun at my nose, and tell me that she’s “sorry that I was cursed with my dad’s bulbousness”, if that’s even a word. I would never smile super wide in pictures, or sometimes just smile without showing my teeth in order for my nose not to get wider. I wanted my nose to be thin and small, just like every other little girl in my class. Apparently, it confused people who claimed to see a “white passing” girl with a not so “white person” nose.

           

           Other than my nose being over sized for my face, I also have a scar on the tip of it. In the middle of being birthed, my head got stuck. The doctors had to literally suck me out with this weird vacuum from the ceiling (at least that’s what my mom said). After being sucked out, I looked like I was abused. To this day, my beat up hospital picture is still on the refrigerator. From that incident, due to my large head, I was marked with a scar that resembles a pause button.  People would ask what was on my nose, or mistake it for a zit. I would then have to explain how it is a scar, and how I got it. It was pretty embarrassing.

As I got older I then realized that these people were idiots, and how amazing this feature was for me, and everyone. I eventually learned to show off my nose to people who would taunt me about it. Noses explain where you come from. It makes everyone different from each other. I get the arch from my mother’s Italian blood, and my wideness from my father’s African American descent. Now, I probably sound pretty stereotypical when I talk about a black person’s nose, but it is what it is. My great grandfather had his father’s nose, and passed it down to his son, which then passed it down to my father, and ended up passing it down to me, and blessing me with my large nostrils that let me smell my coffee every morning.My mother has her father’s nose, as well. It is identical, and she blessed me with this bump that keeps my glasses from sliding down. I could go on and on about how weird my nose is, but I’m here to explain how it makes me who I am. My nose is different from the business man on my right on the subway. He has a thin, pointed nose. My nose is different from the girl who sits in front of me in class who has a short, button nose. People can have the same colored hair, the same foot size, but not the same nose. Where’s the fun in that? No one else is me, and my nose works as a symbol of that. 

       In this world, everyone wants to look the same. We wear the same brands, shop at the same stores, and eat the same food. We are afraid to show the real us. Actresses get nose jobs because they’re afraid to look too different for the movies. The media portrays a perfect woman’s face to be symmetrical: large eyes, plump lips, and a thin, small nose. These women are pressured to look “perfect”. What they’re really doing is taking their identity away without knowing it. Barbra Streisand is an award winning actress and singer who made herself into what she is now without listening to other people who told her to change. She is a Jewish woman with one of the most well-known noses in the industry. She was told she would never get anywhere because of her nose, that she would never be something. They said it was unappealing, and a problem. The critics were saying that being her true self was not good enough. Her history and past was being judged because of her appearance. Now look at her—she sits on a thrown.

I believe in God, and I believe He made us all different for a reason. He didn’t want us to all look the same. He wants us to be different, to love different, and to accept each other for being different. Our noses are an accent on our faces, and compliment who we are. You have no reason to be ashamed of the beauty you have in your diversity. If you have a curved nose, why straighten it? If you have a round nose, why make it pointed?  We do not all have to look the same. Your design is one of a kind. The way your history has sculpted you is the most beautiful thing anyone could ask for. I’m not afraid to smile as wide as I can. My nose might extend more across my face, but who is to say that is a bad thing? The wider my smile is, the happier I am.

My nose used to be my biggest insecurity, but now I have accepted the fact that my nose is mine. I shouldn’t have to change it to fit in. I refuse to take away what makes me who I am just to follow the trend of normalcy. My nose is history and it shows what I am made up of and how I got here.

What does your nose say about you?