You are beautiful.
Whether you want to believe it or not, you are beautiful. Society is trying to tell us today that we have to fit a certain list of characteristics to be beautiful. Do I have a thigh gap? No. Do I have Kylie Jenner lips? No. Am I still beautiful? Yes, and so are you. Are you beautiful if you have a thigh gap? Yes. I hate that these "standards" have become almost universal. There is uniqueness in looking different and being a one-of-a-kind creation.
Despite this, girls are starving themselves to have "perfect" bodies, and spending absurd amounts of money to change the way that they look. If we are this insecure when we are growing up, how difficult will it be for us to be secure in ourselves when we become adults? This problem of insecurity never stops. Even grown women still feel insecure about their bodies and their appearance. Should we have to spend our whole lives feeling this way?
Social media is largely at fault for this universal idea of beauty. It's so easy to hop on to Instagram, and feel awful about yourself. You start to compare your life to the life someone portrays on Instagram, but the funny thing is, they are probably just as insecure about themselves as you are about yourself. Their pictures are edited, and their lives are carefully laid out with every post. Only the best parts of life are shared on social media. We start to feel like we will never be as interesting or as beautiful as these Instagram models or as our friends who make their lives look better with their aesthetically pleasing posts.
True beauty has been devalued by this surge in social media's presence. For some reason having a "good personality" has become an insult. The first thing that you want someone to say about you is that you are "hot" or "pretty" and not that you are caring, kind or just an all around incredible person. All of these characteristics make you who you are, not just your physical appearance.
Boys certainly are not helping this problem. They view us objects to use and abuse, not treasures to value and keep safe (Disclaimer: not every guy is like this. There are plenty out there who want to treat you well; you just have to look for them). We don't make it any easier for them. With the direction that fashion has taken, it doesn't leave much for the imagination. Modest is hottest? Not today it isn't.
Just remember that no one can make you feel anyway that you don't want to feel. If you want to feel beautiful, you have every right to that. No one should be able to change your view on yourself. Try building each other up and helping someone else feel better. Who knows, maybe someone will do the same for you.
"You are the most beautiful, glowing, sun-goddess ever" -Leslie Knope
You are beautiful. Now go believe it.
