Okay, so just in case you did not know... Miss Teen USA has decided to remove the swimsuit portion of their competition. I totally agree with their decision.

You see, growing up a female in today's society gives us a different perspective on things, I believe. Swimsuits have changed a lot since they first came out, each new one designed to show more and more skin. Leaving a lot of people feeling more or less "naked." However, people of our generation do not really see the "big deal" with bikinis because they are all we have ever really known.

To be completely honest, I do not think there should be an swimsuit or athletic wear portion. Although these portions of the competition are used to build confidence and show how "beautiful" a confident girl looks, I think it really does come at a cost.

I am not against beauty competitions by any means. I think as long as they are done tastefully and stick to the real core values of building confident and classy young women, they are great. However, I feel that young girls and even young men often watch the swimsuit and athletic wear portions of these competitions and find themselves feeling less confident than before.

I, myself, am guilty of this. I am short, and though I am not fat, I would not exactly feel super pleased about having to walk around in a bathing suit in front of thousands and thousands of people. I commend those who feel secure enough in themselves to do so. I will often compare myself to other girls. I know guys my age often do the same thing. Guys compare themselves to guys, and I feel like we often forget to let guys know its okay to self love too.

Young women want to look slim and trim all the time... but why? Society has trained most of us to see that being that way is what is attractive. When in all reality, what is attractive is someone who is healthy and who really does feel comfortable in their own skin.

Some people take beauty competitions and use them as a way to compare. That should not be the case. We can not teach young women that your body is what sells. This in turn teaches young men to see women for their bodies first, and maybe if they are lucky their personalities. We are teaching young men that you have to be in shape and look masculine to be considered attractive.

I know that the winner of beauty competitions is based off of a lot more than just one portion, but I think that removing this portion will really change the dynamic of the beauty pageant culture. I think that is great. I believe this will really allow more focus to be placed on the talent portions for example. Those who compete in beauty pageants often use that as a platform for community service, great!

I hope young women and men watch beauty pageants and see that confidence can carry you a long way. However, it is more about staying true to who you are than what you look like in an evening gown. Yes, psychical appearance can make a huge difference in how you feel emotionally and spiritually. But I wish we could all see that it does not have to be the sole factor in our worth.

We all get so caught up on psychical appearances as humans. Even from very young ages, we tend to flock to those who wear the cool clothes and those who are more appealing to the eye.

Let's start becoming attracted to intelligence, intellectualism, good morals, etc. At the end of the day, all you really have left is who you are and how you feel about yourself. Make sure that most days, you are okay with that person.