Slim arms. Thigh gaps. Luscious lips. Perky butt. Toned tummy. These are just a few of many standards of beauty that society spoon feeds from the moment we exit the womb. Tighten this and minimize that. From Disney princesses to notable celebrities like the Kardashians, we are continuously left with the question “Why don’t I look like that?”. Why is it that every time I scroll through Twitter or glance over at the magazines at checkout at grocery stores that I suddenly feel like I'm not pretty enough? Since when did my body become a symbol of self-loathing rather than an abundance of cells that kept me alive? When did these ideal beauty standards become a malignant cancer that shattered our self worth?

But the answer to this is quite simple. Things have always been like this. From idolized pale skin in the Victorian Era to Kylie Jenner’s big lips in modern day America, beauty standards have always existed in every part of the world in every time era. Insecurities are just a part of the package. And men aren’t excluded from this ideology, either. Toned abs and tenacious arms are fitting in the eyes of society, but that’s not reality.

In no way am I saying that you should think less of yourself because of what some magazine editor declares as beautiful. This sounds incredibly cheesy, but beauty is something that you have to find on your own. And that’s what life is: learning to come with terms who you are, imperfections and all. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Body positivity is not something easily acquired. And some people might need that extra little push. That’s right. I’m talking about plastic surgery.

A little while ago, I was browsing through social media and noticed how many hateful comments there were about a girl’s appearance in a photo. You’re so fake. This is why plastic surgery is bad, kids. You look terrible. If you asked my opinion on plastic surgery a year ago, I would’ve agreed with these people. But I’ve learned to see things from perspectives other than my own and thought about why people were so against it. What’s so wrong with wanting to change how you look? I’m not saying you change every little thing about yourself because you feel like it would make you look better. Beauty is more than something exterior. It’s a mentality. Unfortunately, society dismantles this state of mind and makes us feel like we’re less than what we are actually worth.

Everyone has insecurities. It’s just a bonus feature of being human. Now, you could tell someone that they’re beautiful and that they should love themselves all that you want, but that’s not going to do anything. Like I said before, beauty is a mentality that is not easily acquired and a lot of the time, people never feel satisfied with themselves. So my belief is that if you are truly and genuinely unhappy with yourself at the end of the day, there’s no problem with changing that. Stick needles in your face and remove parts of yourself that you don’t want. But only do it if it’s truly affecting your life in a negative way. I can personally tell you that living in a body that you hate is no way to live.

Now to all the people that are still against plastic surgery, ask yourself this question: how does someone changing their appearance affect you personally? Easy answer: it doesn’t. I don’t live to please others, and neither should anyone else. Sure, there are surgeries that go bad and don’t necessarily look great, but if that person happy with themselves, why do I care? If you want to change your face, that's cool. If you don't, that's cool, too.

I’m sure many will say that you should be happy in your own skin and you should love who you are. The key word there is should. The ambiguity of that word is one that worries me. Should. You should do this and you should feel that, but what if you don’t? Not all of us are born loving the skin we wear. For example, transgender people. They feel like the gender they were born as is completely wrong. They feel like a stranger in their own skin. They get gender reassignment surgeries to make themselves feel more like themselves, so what’s wrong with cosmetically changing how you look?

So in a world obsessed with image, it’s difficult to accept yourself for who you are. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has insecurities, but if those insecurities are genuinely making your life worse, feel free to do whatever to your face to increase your chances of happiness (just be sure to extinguish all your options first). Because that’s all that matters at the end of the day. People’s opinions of you are irrelevant to how you live your life. This life is yours, so live it as you please whether that’s accepting yourself or resorting to cosmetics. We live in a world of paper people. People that show a certain side to the world while the true side of themselves lies hidden away. It’s up to you if you want to be paper or plastic, but please value yourself before you make comparisons or decisions to please others because honey, no one makes it out of this life alive and you are all that you’ve got.