Growing up, girls are given the impression that they need to look a certain way, act a certain way and even dress a certain way for a multitude of different reasons. Whether it's to get a man's attention, to get a job or just to simply make it in society. We are told to be seen and not heard. We are shown that skinny is beautiful, and nothing else is.
I, like most girls, really don't see myself as the manufactured beautiful. I don't look like the women in the magazines, and I never have. Like many other women, I have struggled with that since I can remember. I have never had the perfect body, and when everyone else seemed to have straight or wavy hair, my hair was crazy curly and I used to straighten as often as possible. I have always been different and have been really hard on myself. But we need to remember that what we see in the magazines isn't real -- it's Photoshop. There is no such thing as the perfect body. There is no reason to try to change who you are just to be like what you see in the magazines, it is an unattainable goal to have. We just need to try to be the best, happiest and healthiest version of ourselves.
Most girls admit to only having days every now and then that they actually feel beautiful. Believe me, I am no exception from this at all but that doesn't make it any better. Every girl should feel beautiful every day because they are. They may not be post-Photoshop beautiful, but then again, nobody is, because again, those images we see in magazines are not real life.
But, I hear some girls talking about much they aren't happy with the way they look because they don't look like those girls in the magazines. I just think it is ridiculous that we are so hard on ourselves to reach such an unattainable goal.
I know I am not the best example of accepting the way I look. I have physical limitations that make it difficult to tone up my legs, and I hate it. And, I mean really hate it. I have hated the way my body looks my entire life. It doesn't matter how great people told me I looked, I still didn't see it. And, I still don't sometimes. It doesn't matter how other people see you that matters, at the end of the day, it is how you see yourself that truly matters.
I know that a lot of girls most likely will never see this, but I just wanted to say something about it. It is definitely something that we must continue to remind ourselves. But trust me, you will feel so much better when you accept that we are all beautiful in our own ways. Hopefully, this will make a difference for somebody out there.
