My granddaughter is beautiful, and . . . .?

[OfCourseEveWasFramed]

She's 10, year 6 and people actually stop us in the street to tell her she's beautiful. This has been going on for her lifetime. She says thank you.
She says, 'thanks, I'm also really smart and I'm a good climber'.
Her looks are the only thing that strangers comment on.
Thankfully, she's level headed. Her class had a one-off lesson on how the media treats girls and women, and she had a lot to say about it - so did her friends.
A girl's looks are not the most important thing about her. We all know this, except random strangers don't seem to have got the message.

I was always stopped in the street and told I was beautiful, people still comment on my eyes being beautiful now. Same for my siblings.

I think it's more common if you have mixed raced children, people are fascinated by it. Boys/girls any age.

Why do you need to post on mumsnet about it?

Who cares?!

Seriously, you chopped off your daughter's hair because people complimented the curls?

Mixed race*

'Thanks I'm a big headed little shit thanks to grandmas fake stories about strangers falling at my feet really clever too' ok

they sure as hell wouldn't do it to a 10 yo boy

I beg to differ - grown women would tell me my eldest was drop dead gorgeous and they couldn't wait till he was legal

People are more likely to tell a girl she's pretty and a boy he's clever. These stereotypes are established at a very young age.

I agree with you OP- your GD is attractive by an accident of birth, nothing she did or contributes too. That's not what we should be praising people for.

apple mine are mixed race.

I have known occasions where people have commented on a child being cute, gorgeous, adorable etc. People do say it (occasionally.) But if you go telling people about it, it makes you look like an arrogant, boastful nob. No-one gives a fuck if your kids have had people telling them they are cute or pretty. NO-ONE.

I have known occasions where people have commented on a child being cute, gorgeous, adorable etc. People do say it (occasionally.) But if you go telling people about it, it makes you look like an arrogant, boastful nob. No-one gives a fuck if your kids have had people telling them they are cute or pretty. NO-ONE

Exactly, and a lot of people are just saying it to be nice / make conversation.

notwins you make a very good point.
I have a son with learning disabilities. Not his fault and the fact his siblings are smart isn't down to anything they have done.
Luckily they are all stunningly good looking so....

My daughter gets stopped a lot because of her looks. I usually just say "Thanks, I baked her myself."

Put her on Facebook every child and person is beautiful on there.

People stop me to comment on my ds - he has incredible eyes. I think it's nice. I always thank people. What's so wrong with someone being nice? If we keep complaining about the way strangers who are being nice speak, society is just going to stop trying to interact for fear of being criticised.

I've seen photos you've shared of your DD MrsD and she was most definitely beautiful.

Sounds a bit dramatic
Couldn't you have just said 'of course there is, people just love curly hair'

Indeed. 'is there anything else good about me, or just my hair' is a very odd question and I'd have been more worried by my failure to boost her confidence.

My mum says when she meets her friends there is an etiquette for grandparent boasting. You have to take turns apparently and everyone listens while you boast about how pretty/clever your DGC are, then they agree, then it's someone else's turn. If you hijack the whole conversation by boringly ranting about your own you lose friends. OP I think you should boast in RL according to the strict rules and not on an internet forum.

Interesting to see that a potential self boast is more important for most people than the meaning behind the comment.

Yes it's just a bit of conversation. But it's conversation based on some expectation (being beautiful is very important - for girls of course but als more and more for boys too. It's all about looks) that one might not want to be part of.
It also has an impact on the dd. I'm sure that being told again and again of look how beautiful you are isn't nice (try being told all the time oh look how tall/small you are. Not a nice feeling). The fact a 10yo can actually tell how much importance is being put on her shoulder about her looks isn't good.

But yay. Potential boasting much more important than any othat of course. No one is allowed to have an issue about being told they are good/better than others on any subject at all.....

Someone has already done this exact post before. With the baby in the restaurant. Zzzzzzzz

they sure as hell wouldn't do it to a 10 yo boy
Of course they do, why on earth not. Boys are just as gorgeous as girls.

OP it's great your gd has the gift of beauty, and lovely that people bother to compliment it. It's a little off that she replies by telling them she is clever too. It would be far more gracious to learn to accept the compliments and show some humility by not bragging about her other attributes.

To be fair, LewisThere, the OP's granddaughter clearly has no problem whatsoever being told how good she is, as she will happily inform people how smart she is and how brilliant at climbing, too.

People say my 1 year old is gorgeous. Feel like thumping them. She's not her looks.

I live by this. Why is beauty taboo now. We should be tellimg more people they are beautiful rather than trying to pretend looks dont matter. I was never beautiful. Thankfully my mama used to tell us we were because no one else would.

People say my 1 year old is gorgeous. Feel like thumping them. She's not her looks.

Really? All 1yos are gorgeous, people are just making conversation.