Ranting about society wanting us to conform on vanity issues

I get really irritated when people expect everyone to conform to doing things a certain way, just because "society" believes that's the way it should be.

I'm sure this is true on MANY levels.

But I felt the need to rant on two specific issues in regard to this. 

I have had people tell me that I should not wear shorts because 1) my legs are too white & 2) my legs are too veiny.  So I shouldn't wear shorts unless I 1) lay out in the sun/go to a tanning salon & get a tan, 2) put on a sunless tanning lotion, 3) get a spray on fake tan, &/or 4) get a cosmetic procedure to get rid of the veins showing.

Ok, my legs don't tan well.  The rest of my body tans well/easily, but my legs resist for some reason.  And I don't really care enough to lay out in the sun (not to mention I don't have the time) to get them tan.  The only tanning I get is what I get when I'm doing things outdoors.  I don't go out of my way to get tan.  Not to mention I don't really want extra wrinkles or to increase my odds of skin cancer.  And I don't do sunless tanning lotions, the ingredients are very scary.  The same is true of spray on fake tans--not only the ingredients you put onto your skin but also what you breathe in--crazy scary stuff.  I also don't do sunscreen/sunblock unless I'm in the direct sun for multiple hours.  I don't believe the ingredients in those are good for us either.  As for the cosmetic procedure for veins--craziness.  I have a heart murmur, have a defective valve in m heart.  So it doesn't pump as effectively as it should & blood does back up & pool in my veins, especially the veins in my extremities & by way of gravity the feet & legs show it the most. 

The bottom line is I just don't care.  And if it's hot I want to be comfortable & I'm going to wear shorts.  People have a choice of where to look.  If they don't like my legs they can look away from them.  It's that simple.

The other issue I've been told about is that my teeth are not white enough.  I really should have them whitened I am told. 

Now I'm not a smoker nor do I drink coffee.  And I only drink herbal teas.  So there's nothing that's excessively discoloring my teeth.  But I don't believe that teeth whitening is healthy or safe for us.  And I don't care which way you do it.  Laser or bleach or whatever.  I don't believe any of that is healthy or safe.  I keep my teeth very clean because I hate dentists (what a bunch of crooks!) & that's that.  My teeth not being bleach white doesn't make them less healthy.  And just because society now says that they should be bleach white doesn't mean I have to conform & do it.  And if my teeth are bothering people they still have a choice to look the other way.

That's all I have to say about that.