Talk Nerdy to Me
My Eye Got Infected! Now I’m Wearing Glasses
Since the fourth grade, I’ve needed glasses — but I didn’t start wearing them until the fifth grade.
I’ve always had my issues with this fashion accessory, even if I’m wearing a high-end designer. When I first started wearing glasses, I used to wear these cheap metal frames. I was notorious for breaking the nosebuds, and then they would sit unevenly on my face.
I dealt with dorky, uneven glasses until the seventh grade, when I was finally allowed to get contacts. Without “four eyes,” I gained confidence. All through high school, I wore my contacts, even though I kept a pair of overpriced plastic frames. I only wore those to read, and I avoided appearing in public with them.
The same principle has applied to my MIT career. A few days before Senior Ball, I got an eye infection, which rendered me incapable of opening my right eye. Immediately, I went to an eye doctor, who got me better in time to wear my contacts. However, after feeling “better,” I skipped my follow-up and landed myself with a much worse form of the eye infection.
I have been unable to wear my contacts for the past month, and I am now revisiting the aesthetic appeal of glasses. When I worked for a law firm, I was tempted to start wearing glasses because most of my coworkers did. Glasses are a fashion accessory amongst many professional women. Most people claim glasses make anyone look smarter.
If this is the case, I wonder what makes me so unhappy about my appearance with glasses. I’ve been reassured countless time by men and women that I look much better — and smarter — with my glasses. But I just don’t see it. Maybe I subconsciously dislike appearing intelligent.
I don’t think glasses make you look more intelligent. They just make you look different.
I’m not used to how I look in glasses, in much the same way I’m not used to many of my friends wearing glasses. I once heard that 9 out of 10 men find glasses sexy. I was inclined to disagree, until it occurred to me that if a person only wears his/her glasses to bed, their partner sees them in a different, more intimate way. The same principle applies for a person who only takes off his/her glasses when they sleep.
There’s something sexy about seeing a new quality in an individual, and that’s probably what make glasses so appealing. Since wearing glasses more frequently, I’ve become more and more confident with how I look either way. Maybe from now on, I won’t mind being seen either way — assuming no more infections.