From a young age, girls are expected to live up to the damaging standards of beauty placed on them by society. The pressure to meet these beauty standards leads to negative body image, low self-esteem and disordered eating. Young girls and women often go to extreme levels of diet and exercise in their search for the “perfect body”.
We are taught to believe that being a particular weight is beautiful. We are taught that we have to look a certain way to be accepted. But how many times are we told that our appearance doesn't define our worth?
Growing up, I was one of the young girls who strove to have the perfect body. Teased for being chubby when I was eight years old, I prayed every day to be skinnier. In fifth grade, I decided to make a change. I started skipping lunch. My friends noticed that I wasn't eating and when they asked me why I lied and said I wasn't hungry. When I started losing weight, my teachers noticed and said I looked much better than I did before.
Sophomore year of high school is when the signs of an eating disorder first set in. I counted calories, and if I ate over the daily limit of calories I set for myself, I was miserable and I restricted more the next day. I wasn't satisfied with the way I looked, no matter how much weight I lost. My friends always commented on how skinny I was, and that made me happy. Little did I know that I was falling into an endless cycle of disordered eating.
Being told I looked better after losing weight was detrimental because I believed that people would only like me if I was skinny.
When freshman year of college started, I still cared about my weight, and although I didn’t count calories anymore, I limited my food intake and exercised every day. Senior year of college was when I finally started to feel comfortable with myself. I continued my restrictive diet, but the way I viewed myself started to change. I started to realize that I am more than the way I look. For 14 years, I struggled to try to be what society told me to be. My time in college showed me that I was smart, kind and beautiful. Being surrounded by those who loved me for more than just my appearance helped me to grow to love myself.
What if we stood up to the standards of beauty portrayed by society? What if, instead of commenting on a person's weight and appearance, we compliment them on how intelligent, friendly or how beautiful they are on the inside and out?
Young girls and women would learn that there is more to them than their appearance. They would be spared years of dissatisfaction with their bodies and learn to love themselves for who they are.
Is there a perfect body?
The answer to this question is simple. No, there isn't. No matter what weight and height you are, you're beautiful. Your scars, blemishes and imperfections make you beautiful. Please don't change for anyone but yourself. Your body doesn’t define who you are. Your weight doesn’t determine your worth. Love yourself for who you are because there is only one you and you are worth more than your appearance.
