"She's too fat."

"You should eat more; you're too skinny."

"Did you see the stretch marks all over her body? Gross."

"Maybe you should put down the doughnut and eat a salad instead."

"She has nothing to show off."

Words hurt and leave scars that don't fade over time. The scars are painful and inflicting reminders of how a girl's body is not beautiful, worthy or praised. People are constantly putting young girls and young women down for their body types, which impacts their self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth. This is called body shaming. Body shaming is described as making comments about someone's physical appearance, weight or body in a negative way. When a young girl or woman is being body-shamed by her peers, a piece of her is taken. She might try to play it off like it isn't a big deal, but the reality is that a piece of her confidence is taken away, then a piece of her security is taken away and a piece of herself is taken away. A piece of her is continuously removed each time she is body-shamed until she reaches the point where she no longer considers herself beautiful.

Body shaming not only comes in the form of words or conversations, but is also exploited all over social media, such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You have probably heard of some of these social media body-shaming trends such as the thigh gap, which is defined as a space between a women's thighs when she stands upright. This trend says that if you have a thigh gap or even remotely close to one, you are considered to have the "perfect and ideal" body type. There's also the #A4WaistChallenge, which started in China, in which women post pictures of themselves on social media holding a piece of A4 printer paper to show that their waist is smaller or equivalent to the size of the paper. Now, a new body-shaming challenge has recently made its way to social media (also started in China) that is called "iPhone 6 Knees." The "goal" of this trend is for women to see if their knees are thin or slim enough to be covered by the iPhone 6. I think it is ridiculous how many of these challenges continue to arise in social media, and I am even more disgusted by the fact that people take part in this in order to convey to others (and themselves) that they fit within the conditions of each of these challenges.

You are limiting yourself when you start to compare yourself to an object, such as an iPhone. Who told you that your knees have to be that thin or that you have to be a size 0 to be beautiful? Who said that the way God made you isn't beautiful enough? Who hurt you to the point that you can longer see beauty in yourself?

You don't need a thigh gap to define your body just like you don't need to have a small waist to be considered beautiful. We are women and we are different. Some of us are tall and curvy, while some of us are short and stick-thin and others are a little bit in between. I know there are parts of our bodies that we may not like or desperately want to change, but there is someone in your life who loves everything about you. The little things that you see as imperfections are beautiful in someone else's eyes. You have to love yourself for who you are because that is the only way you will be able to accept your body. When you keep picking at your body and the things you hate about it, you will only continue to hate yourself and put your body and health at more risk. Your perfect imperfections are what make you a person, and you should embrace every part of it. When you come to love the body that God gave you, you love yourself for everything that you are.

We are imperfect human beings who are meant to be loved. We need to be respected and loved just as much as our bodies need to be respected and loved. Instead of bashing other girls and women or yourself, we should encourage one another to be the best version of ourselves.

We shouldn't let social media or other people's opinions depict to us what is a beautiful body and what is not. We shouldn't body shame one another or constantly put each other down. We shouldn't let someone else's words define who we are as women. We should encourage body positivity; embrace everything about yourself that show the real you. We should love all of our imperfections because they are what makes us unique. We should stop body shaming because a number on a scale has no weight of who we are as individuals.

I choose to love and accept myself for the way I am, and I encourage you to do the same. Once you have accepted yourself, opinions don't matter anymore. Go and buy the bikini that you've been dying to wear. Go eat whatever your heart desires. Go and proudly wear that new crop top with your skater skirt! Go and be you! Don't let the opinions of others shut down the light inside of you. Showcase your beauty to the world and be confident in the person you have become.