As a 19-year-old girl in today's society, I can unfortunately say that I have been body shamed far too many times to count. It is impossible to escape the constant pressure that society puts on young women to be "perfect." Well, newsflash, perfection does not exist. There's constant pressure to have a flat stomach, a thigh gap, a prominent collar bone and these idealistic qualities can ruin a girls self esteem.

Why is it that the word 'beautiful' is directly associated with the word skinny? Do you know what is beautiful? Being healthy. Healthy looks different on anyone. Some girls are naturally thin, some are curvy and others have an athletic build, but as long as they are healthy, who cares? Having a healthy relationship with your body is what is beautiful, no matter what that looks like. People come in all different shapes and sizes, and it is so brutally unfair to make people feel as though they are not good enough just because their thighs touch.

Everybody is different, but every body is beautiful in it's own way. What exactly is it that body shaming accomplishes? What is OK about making girls hate themselves? And because it is so prominent in the media, friends, parents, coaches, etc,. begin to also think it is OK to ridicule and critique the bodies of young girls. This is not OK, and the effects can be detrimental. So many women today struggle with eating disorders, and they exercise until they pass out and make themselves sick because they were taught it's OK to mistreat their bodies. Instead of being carefree and enjoying their lives girls are now calorie counting and skipping meals. So when is it going to stop?

I've been body shamed my whole life. I've been told I'm fat, to stop eating, to go for a run. I've been called thunder thighs and disgusting. And I let it get to me, I mistreated my body and tried so hard to become society's definition of "beautiful." But you know what I learned? I'm never going to have a thigh gap, my body is just literally not made that way. I've learned that by trying to make myself "better" I actually made myself worse. I also learned that people who take the time to belittle others clearly have their own problems to deal with and it says everything about the type of person they are and nothing about you. Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, relentlessly starve myself and run until I collapse, to achieve this idealized, unattainable, definition of beauty?

Beauty is loving yourself and loving your body. Beauty comes from within and radiates outward. You are beautiful when you laugh and when you do things you are passionate about. You do not have to look like your best friend, or your favorite actress. You're never going to be any one but yourself, so why waste so much of your life hating the beautiful person that you are? The more people begin to accept and love themselves the way they are closer we can get to putting an end to body shaming.

You are your favorite books, your favorite songs, that eye roll you get when you are annoyed, the little snort that happens when you laugh, you are the company you keep, you are your hopes and dreams, you are beautiful because you are you. Your weight does not define who you are. I used to be so caught up in being "good enough" and wondering and obsessing over what other people thought of me. But the truth is you'll never be "good enough" in everyone's eyes, but that's OK, because the only opinion that matters is yours.

We need to stop saying things like, "Put some meat on your bones," or "Lose some weight." Body shaming happens to all body types and it is never OK. The solution? Promote being healthy. Simple as that. Healthiness is beautiful and it comes in various forms. Stop body shaming. Accept your beauty and the beauty of those around you and believe that you are good enough the way you are. Start a revolution, stop hating your body.