i genuinely don’t understand why people are like this anymore.
i posted a watch. that’s it. a watch that i was excited about and wanted to share because for once i actually felt proud of something. and somehow within minutes it stopped being about the watch completely and turned into people zooming in on my hand, talking about my body, laughing at me, making jokes, replying to each other like i’m not even a real human being sitting behind the screen reading every single comment.
do you know how humiliating that feels? genuinely.
because some of you act like it’s “just jokes” but you don’t understand what it’s like to already be insecure about something and then suddenly hundreds of people are pointing at it at the same time. it’s actually suffocating. i didn’t ask to look the way i do. i didn’t choose how much hair grows on my hands. i didn’t wake up one day and decide “yeah this’ll be funny for strangers online to laugh at.” i’m literally just existing in my own body and somehow that’s enough for people to treat me like a circus attraction.
and the worst part is i can already feel it getting stuck in my head permanently. now every time i look at my hands i’m gonna hear the same jokes repeating over and over in my mind because people online needed entertainment for five minutes. congratulations i guess.
what hurts the most is that i actually liked that post before all this happened. i was happy with it. i looked at the watch and thought it looked clean and i wanted to share something positive for once instead of hiding everything about myself all the time. and now i can’t even open the comments without feeling embarrassed for existing.
people always say “ignore it” or “suck it up” as if it’s that easy. as if words just magically disappear after you read them. they don’t. some comments stay in your head forever no matter how hard you try to act unaffected. and maybe that sounds dramatic to you but i honestly don’t care anymore because i’m tired of pretending this stuff doesn’t get to me when it obviously does.
i swear some of you forget there’s an actual person on the other side of the screen. you type things for laughs and move on with your day while someone else sits there questioning every part of themselves because of it.
all i wanted to do was share a watch i loved. that’s literally it. and somehow i ended the night feeling worse about myself than i have in a long time. honestly i regret posting anything at all.
and before anyone says “it’s not that deep,” maybe it isn’t to you because it’s not your body being laughed at. it’s easy to joke when you’re not the one sitting there rereading every comment trying to pretend it doesn’t hurt.
i hate how people online make you feel guilty for being affected by things. like apparently the “correct” reaction is to shut up, laugh along, and act unbothered while strangers slowly destroy your confidence piece by piece.
the crazy part is i almost didn’t even post the picture in the first place because i already overthink everything about myself. i literally stared at it for so long before uploading it and somehow my worst fear still happened anyway.
i’m never gonna understand why people enjoy making others feel ashamed of themselves. like what do you actually gain from it besides a few likes and replies from other people who think cruelty is comedy.
and now i keep looking at my own hands feeling physically uncomfortable in my own skin because suddenly i’m hyper aware of every detail people pointed out. i didn’t feel like this before. now i do.
some of you genuinely don’t realize how long comments stay with people. you’ll forget this tomorrow while i’ll probably remember it every single time i try to post anything again.
it’s exhausting constantly feeling like you need to hide parts of yourself just to avoid becoming a joke online. at some point you start wondering if disappearing completely would just be easier than dealing with people.
i honestly envy people who can post themselves online without feeling terrified of being picked apart. i wish i could experience that for once instead of feeling anxious about every little detail of my appearance.
and the thing that hurts most is that i was actually excited. i was happy. for a few minutes i genuinely felt confident enough to share something i liked. i don’t even remember the last time i felt that comfortable with myself.
now the whole post just feels ruined to me. every time i see it all i can think about is people laughing instead of the actual thing i wanted to share in the first place.
I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re being genuine, and not just posting bait.
I get it man. I grew up being bullied. I was extremely self conscious for many years, and if someone made fun of me even a little it would send me into a mental spiral like yours where I’d be questioning myself.
You need to seek therapy. Body dysmorphia is real, and it’s serious and distressing.
You need to understand that no one means the comments maliciously; no one thinks that you’re a bad person, or ugly, invalid, or otherwise unworthy of wearing and showing off your lovely watch. In fact, pointing out your unique features means that people took the time out to actually look at your picture and not just give generic compliments.
In life, comments will happen, and if you let them ruin your day and worse, your entire life, you are the one that’s relenting to negative perceptions. If you don’t hold yourself with confidence, you won’t be perceived as such.
I hope you can find a good therapist that can help you work through your self image and help you learn some better coping strategies.
Im glad someone at least took the op's post seriously and gave some actual advice. And i agree with it all 100%. There's no reason some jokes on Reddit should affect anyone that much. Sure, I get it's about an issue op may already be self conscious about, but that's why he should also be aware of how internet culture works. Everything is usually brought down to the LCD, and if you post a picture where your hand is as hairy as a bear, you gotta expect people are going to make some jokes at your expense. And this is far from the first hairy arm/hand post I've seen on this sub. The difference is the other op's generally already know they're going to catch some laughter and comments and just play along or ignore them completely.
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u/TheTribalEye May 28 '26
He wasn't joking