I don't remember the moment I realized being skinny equaled being beautiful. I do recall flipping through my mom's Victoria's Secret magazines, and imagining my adult body looking just like the models'. I remember being in Junior High and envying the slim and curvy figures of high school girls, while frowning at my own awkward shapes and angles. I remember these thoughts and insecurities surfacing and swimming around in my head since I was in elementary school, but I can't remember a defining moment that instigated them.

This disturbs me. The fact that this stereotypical idea of beauty is so accepted in our society that all young women are immersed in it from birth, with no chance to escape, is heartbreaking. How do any of us have a chance to consider ourselves beautiful if a different definition is being spat out at us before we even know what "body image" is?

This is so much bigger than just being thin or being fat. A lot of girls, like me, know that they aren't fat. But they also know that they don't possess the size 2 figure that is plastered over billboards and advertisements.

I eat healthy, I work out and drink plenty of water. I take good care of my body. But that doesn't mean I don't run my hands over my stomach, wishing my hip bones were a little more prominent. It doesn't mean I don't wear looser shirts, just to hide the parts of me I wish were different. It doesn't mean I don't still beat myself up when I eat one too many cookies, wondering how I will pay for the extra carbs tomorrow when I pull on my jeans.

In a culture where sex is the first thing on everyone's brain, I feel a constant pressure to look as good as the next girl. No, to look better, so I can have some sense of affirmation about myself. When did a second glance from a guy or more likes on a bikini picture on Instagram become our main source of confidence?

I am focusing on insecurities from a woman's perspective because I am one, but I know full well that these issues are prominent for young men, as well. Hollister models and Calvin Klein advertisements are not kind to the average teenage guy's awkward figure.

I am not proposing a "screw trying to look good" attitude. Work out, eat healthy, drink water and take care of yourself. But don't do it to fit in with the sexuality complex of today. Do it for you because it makes you feel good. Because it gives you energy to be able to conquer the day and be ambitious towards the things you are passionate about.

It sounds cliché to say "you are all beautiful in your own way." But I can't stress it enough. We were all made with a purpose and given these bodies with a purpose. Your skinny may not be my skinny and my curvy may not be your curvy. But I am beautiful in my own way and so are you. We were not all made the same, so it is unrealistic to think we would look beautiful the same way. The bottom line is: You are loved, and you have worth. Push today's stereotype down and cling to this truth. In the end, the only one who can hold you down is yourself.