So you decide to go shopping because you could really use a few new tops, maybe a couple pairs of jeans and as much as that one outfit looks so cute on you, let's face it, you wear it about twice a week. You probably even wear it to go on said shopping trip. Let's take a step back though, why is it that you wear this one particular outfit all the time? Because you like the way it looks on you. Pretty simple right? You could wear that cute tank top that's been hanging in your closet, but it makes you look fat. You could wear that comfy new dress you just bought, but it doesn't look anything like it does on the model as it does on you.

I think you can probably tell by now that this article is going in the direction towards body image, and just a forewarning this subject gets me pretty fired up so I'm going to try my best not to use too many capital letters and exclamation points.

First of all, society's projected image of what your body should like is completely and totally skewed. All day every day, images of size 2, 6-foot women wearing dainty little tops, short shorts and bikinis are constantly shoved down our throats. You can have a pretty face, but you're not really beautiful unless your body looks like that, right? Wrong. Let's take the average model, (I use the term average very lightly here,) 5 foot 10 inches and 120 pounds. I'd like to point out that's not even a healthy BMI. A woman who is 5 foot 10 inches should weigh about 150 pounds to be considered as having a healthy body. One hundred and twenty pounds is considered underweight by medical standards. Did you know that in the model industry, a size 6 is considered plus size? A size 6.

These unrealistic standards are set for women from a ridiculously young age as well. I am 19 years old and I cannot tell you how many times I have heard my friends call themselves fat or tubby or my personal favorite, "I look like a whale." I assure you, no, they do not look like anything even remotely close to whales. Why do they feel this way though? Why is it that I look at my friend who has a beautiful, healthy body and all she can see is every cell of fat? Because society has warped her mind to think that way. That's why. There's a certain undergarment store that rhymes with Smictoria Smecret I have never been fond of because of the models they use to advertise their clothing. I also cannot tell you how many times I have had friends say they want to look like one of these models. One of these 5-foot-10 models who weigh 120 pounds or less with totally unattainable bodies. Do you know how small of a percentage of women in the world actually look like that? Very small. Not to mention this is a store that primarily sells bras advertising with models that don't even have any boobs. Not that that's any of my concern though.

Another thing that really irritates me is that it seems like clothing sizes are getting smaller and smaller. Let's say you're on that shopping trip we talked about earlier and you've already left three different stores frustrated because you couldn't find anything that fit you right, Anything you picked up that caught your eye would't lay right on your body unless you had a slim waist or longer legs. And you just wished so much you looked as good as that girl wearing it in the display picture, but you don't, and that's OK! Believe me when I tell you how much more attractive confidence is than a "perfect" body. I am 5 foot 7 inches, about 140 pounds, a little busty and I love my body.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that skinny women aren't beautiful or that curvy women should be idolized either. I'm just saying that women and men alike should be Idolizing a healthy body. Another issue is that girls are mean. Period. We shouldn't be passively aggressively promoting curvy women and calling thinner girls sticks or bean poles either. That just brings us right back to square one. I used to be really thin when I was younger, and kids at school made fun of me constantly. They would call me anorexic or toothpick, or tell me I needed to eat a sandwich. Let me tell you first hand, that hurt just as much as calling someone fat. It damaged my self-esteem and skewed the way I saw myself in the mirror. Particularly as women, we should be uplifting one another, no matter the body type. Now Lord knows I'm guilty too, but it would make such a difference in the world if girls just weren't so judgmental! Seriously, don't be a bitch.

If there's anything you take away from this article, I just hope that it's to quit caring about what you look like so obsessively. You will start to have way more fun with life. Oh, and go ahead and buy that top you wanted, and wear it with confidence because you're freaking beautiful.