Meta Stuff

About My Eyebrows, and Other Physical Attributes

Thanks to Jeffrey for the transcript, which is after the jump (though video includes closed captioning).

Hello Youtube! This video’s going to be a little different, a little meta. I’ve been very busy this week, and I didn’t really have time to think about what I was going to do a video on. So now it’s Friday already, so I wanted to just get something up there, I thought I’d make it something that I’ve been meaning to get across for a while.

For starters, I just wanted to point out that yes, I have been doing videos in front of a really boring white wall the past few months. This is because I’ve just moved to London and I live in one room, so I don’t really have a lot of options. But, I’m going to be moving again soon, so hopefully my videos will get a bit better, more interesting with the background and with the lighting (hopefully).

And the second thing I wanted to talk about was the Youtube crowd. I mean I know you guys are a sexy crowd, like mega sexy! Every one you know, your friends, your family, tend to be models, you know, just other sexy people. And you’re not used to seeing, you know, crazy beasts like me. So I guess that might get in the way when you’re listening to me say something you disagree with but you don’t really have any facts to back up your position. So instead you focus on the only thing you can really see, which is how hideous I am. So I wanted to say that’s totally cool. There have been a few comments about particular parts of my physical attributes and I thought I would just put them out there so that others who disagree with me but don’t have any facts might latch on to these.

One thing you can talk about is my hair. I don’t really… I’m not a good girl, and I don’t own a blow dryer or things like that. And you can… I actually cut my own hair (mostly because I’m cheap). But you can see that even today, they’re in these weird little bun things. That’s because I didn’t feel like washing my hair today and it gets kinda greasy if I leave it down, so I have to do that. I know, right?

Another thing is my eyebrows. A few people have mentioned my eyebrows. They are bushy, they’re busy eyebrows. It’s weird because until Youtube came along, it never occurred to me to feel bad about them. But I still don’t! I think they’re kind of awesome, they’re like mighty [growl] mighty eyebrows. But they’re not necessarily delicate girly eyebrows that you’re used to seeing. So, I can see how that might be a bit distracting for you, so you might want to make fun of me for that.

But you should have really seen me when I was a kid and it was like one long like caterpillar going right across here. Then one day my cousin, she strapped me down, and she said “you know what, you’re in high school now, and you should look like a girl”. So she, she ripped, she like waxed it, ripped it right off and it never really, never really came back. So. It’s kind of like they my eyebrow reproduced asexually. It was just the one thing, and then it split, and now they’ve became two organisms.

The other thing you might want to mention are my teeth. You can see, see my bottom teeth they’re kind of crowded. Yeah, that’s pretty messed up. I didn’t get braces when I was a kid. Frankly, I’m kind of glad, because they don’t really bother me, and braces would have sucked! But yeah, you might want to mock that.

But here’s something that like no one has actually commented on that you might want to bring up in your criticism: is that the reason that they’re crowded (I think one of the reasons) is because when I was born I was born with the thing that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. It’s that thing. [muffled] That’s really small on me, it’s really short. So it like tugs on my teeth on my teeth or something, I think that’s what makes it crowd. But that means I can only stick my tongue out this far. That’s it! I mean I was still, you know, pretty popular with the boys, so it didn’t really make that much of a difference. But that’s a good thing I think to bring up if you’re mocking me.

So I think that’s pretty much everything. But I should mention that when you do focus on my physical attributes as opposed to what I’m saying, it tells me that I’m right. And that might not be the message that you want to send. I think you’re trying to make me feel bad. But what actually happens is that I read your comment and I think “oh, that person is wrong, and has no other way to prove their point, so they’re resorting to making fun of me”. [cell phone ringing]

I have another message, so I’m going to take that. In the mean while, thanks for watching everybody, and hopefully next week I’ll come back with an actual video about something. Bye!

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

Related Articles

37 Comments

  1. normal, non-plucked eyebrows are normal. wish girls would just leave them the hell alone.

    If you don’t want to stand out in a crowd, because you think boys won’t like you, do you really want to attract boys that like you because you don’t stand out in a crowd? or that don’t like you because you do?

    Boring background breeds brows beautifully, Becca

  2. I just wish the part of my brows I pluck would stay that way. I keep mine natural looking but pluck in the middle to get rid of the unibrow but it keeps growing back. Yeah I’m vain, I know, I like it that way.

  3. I too am tongue tied. I too can only stick out my tongue that much(the ladies have complained). And I too have the EXACT same thing happening to my bottom teeth. I even think it is the same tooth. CREEPY

  4. I think it was Bill Maher who summed it up best about women’s eyebrows- “Ladies, here’s how much we care about eyebrows, do you have two of them? Good, lets move on.”

  5. When I was in high school we used to have this really crude saying about the gals we thought were really hot. “I would drag my pecker through a mile of broken glass to beat off in her shadow”. I know, it’s crude, unrefined, and infantile. But it’s also the highest compliment to a gals attractiveness that an ignorant high schooler in the early 70’s could come up with and I’ve never heard a better one.
    Consider yourself complimented, Rebecca :o)

  6. Actually, the lighting in that video makes her right eyebrow look like an enormous caterpillar, while the one in the light looks, y’know, kinda normal. I doubt very much whether I would have given her eyebrows a second glance normally. Mind you, I’m a monobrow myself, so maybe that counts for something.

  7. I have the exact same tongue/teeth issue, I never realised why… I lack inquisitiveness about my own body, in the same way that I lack inquisitiveness about other pale, slimy things that might be found lurking in dark corners.

    Your eyebrows are fine Rebecca! Personally, I prefer the unplucked, ‘natural’ look.
    Actually, I have a whole thing against the enormous amount of hair removal that women are socially compelled to do, as though having hair on her body made a woman some kind of genetic freak. Nothing wrong with a little hair in the places it’s supposed to grow. Now, if it starts growing in places it shouldn’t, like, for instance, your eyeballs, you should probably get to a doctor.

    @ NelC – I’ve noticed that before, I thought I was just going crazy :)

  8. As the owner of eyestaches I think your brows are gorgeous. Just wait, in 10 years thick brows will be all the vogue again and those pencil thin, archy things will be so passe. Your teeth work, are a good color and look fine to me. Please do not let morons influence your self image. You are young, healthy and just lovely the way you are. I remember seeing you in an interview and thought what a pretty, natural girl you were. Your brain is your loveliest feature. So next time you get a negative comment about your looks from someone tell them to mind their own business.

  9. Heh. Awesome video, Rebecca. On behalf those who have, in the past, resorted to making fun of your eyebrows, or whatever, instead of actually, you know, rebutting your arguments, and who will not have the balls to speak up here, I will say this: “ouch.”

  10. Are manicured eyebrows some kind of expectation in the US? I don’t think most of the women I work with bother plucking most of the time.

  11. The teeth thing reminds me of a Robin Williams joke about different attitudes between the UK and USA.
    “The British Royal Family — all that money and yet no dental plan!”

  12. My teeth are similar (yay!) but now I am concerned about how far I should be able to stick my tongue out. Is Gene Simmons is less freaky than I thought!?

  13. Never posted before, but have been lurking for a while. Just have to say, 1) people making cheap shots about physical attributes is an indication of high levels of moronic-itude, and 2) you are an attractive woman. Bugger the naysayers.

  14. Another wonderfull video Rebecca.

    I also want to take this time to thank Jeffrey for the transcript too

    I was going to bitch about the Closed Caption quality but, I see it has been corrected! (it was way off when I first viewed it)

    Thank you for providing a way for the hearing impaired to enjoy Skepchick and skeptical topics on YouTube even more!

    I raise an eyebrow to you all!

  15. And I thought I was a skeptic because you looked great. ;)

    Seriously, keep making videos. You’re doing more than those so-called “critics” are.

  16. Haters to the left, because your brows look hot! Same with your teeth and hair, way sexy. I think it’s utterly childish for viewers to insult you for not meeting their personal beauty standards when they have nothing substantial to offer to the discussion. Good on you for calling them out on that.
    For what it’s worth, I leave my eyebrows natural because that’s the way I like them on other women, and I receive only compliments about mine. It can often be a political act for a woman not to remove body hair, and that feels pretty awesome and empowering!

  17. @Rebecca
    Honestly, I never noticed the eyebrow thing until it was pointed out. And frankly, it doesn’t look bad.

    Oh, and about braces. Having experienced a year of braces, I can honestly tell you, they are the worst thing ever. Especially at the beginning, where chewing food hurts like hell, and if your teeth is accidentally bumped against something hard, it feels like someone is doing some hardcore torture on your teeth, a bit like someone trying to hit a hammer on your teeth and break them.

    Honestly, why do teeth always have to hurt so much?

  18. You make great videos Rebecca, and I always like hearing what you have to say. Your eyebrows are just fine anyway and I can’t really even see your teeth so I never noticed them.

    That being said, even if you had giant gopher fangs or crazy eyebrows, it still doesn’t make it ok for people to criticize you based on your looks. As you said before, their all obviously sexy people related to other sexy people who certainly don’t have any physical flaws at all. Whatever.

    On a side note, unless you have a monobrow or a very weird shape to your eyebrows, I think messing with them is overkill. Once every few months I have to make my eyebrows reproduce asexually myself. ;)

  19. Rebecca, you’re in England now. You can be proud of having the most comely dentition in AT LEAST a 10 mile radius.

  20. If Christians believe we are all made in God’s image, how can they ever criticize a person’s look?

    Of course, they clearly don’t have good taste in women. :)

  21. Personally, I love a good pair on a woman.

    A good pair of eyebrows, that is.

    You should refer critics of your eyebrows to Jennifer Connelly or Salma Hayek.

  22. All the things you mentioned, I never even noticed. I even thought your hair was pretty cool. I’m not trying to suck up. I just think it’s weird how picky people are. Where to they come up with this shit?

  23. Oh my goodness. First of all, you are incredibly brave for even reading your YouTube comments. Second, your response is totally freaking kick ass. And the eyebrow thing had me hysterical laughing.

    I got my unibrow waxed in high school as well, and I’m pretty happy with that, although it does try to grow back so I keep tweezers around. I was convinced to wax my little mustache-let once as well, but decided that was incredibly stupid. I love my barely visible whiskers, so everyone else can just deal!

    Oh, and braces did suck. But even worse was the spreader they used to make my top jaw larger to match my bottom jaw…. ugh it kept trapping food against the roof of my mouth which would later slide down and choke me…. UGHHHH! Those of us that have had braces love to commiserate.

    Oh, and I love that hair thing. I do that whenever I can find two unbroken hair ties in my apartment (which is rare these days…)

  24. Shallowness of the majority is a given, whether we are talking about religion, politics, or appearance.

  25. The hottest thing about you (that IS what you were fishing for, yes?) is your brain. “Brain and brain! What is brain!?” never appealed to me, no matter the package. Hot is actually third on my list, after “sense of humor.” Sorry, “humour,” seeing as you’re across the pond now.

  26. First, I have to say I like thick eyebrows on a woman…and I also like women who look cute without spending a few hours getting ready.

    But, now I’m conflicted. You’ve created some sort of catch-22 here, because if I do nothing but comment on how you look without addressing the substance of your video, you’ll assume that you’re right (that you have some kind of freakish eyebrow problem, etc), just as you assume you’re right when those other people comment on your looks without addressing the substance of your video. But, if I don’t comment on how you look, then this post becomes meaningless, because I don’t want to bother commenting on the idiocy of people who throw out ad hominems instead of talking about the substance of a video…

    Now I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I hope you’re happy.

  27. I actually as a child had to have that tongue tie thing surgically clipped so I could stick my tongue out as much as you. That btw was the longest anesthesia needle I’ve ever seen.

  28. My eyebrows are so bushy they can be brushed over my eyes. And i can’t stick my tongue out that far. Guess i don’t have a future in science. I should quit my job.

  29. To clarify, I am a scientist hippie like thing. (think Sagan, but less awesome and more prone to dancing.)
    Anyway here is what I have to say.
    Love you Rebecca.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button