We, as a society, are no strangers to the body positivity movement seen daily on social media; #bopo, #loveyourself, etc. This movement is full of amazing sentiments about loving yourself no matter how much fat is on your body, how many stretchmarks you've acquired over the years, and how much cellulite you have on your butt. And that's great! The body positivity movement is so important in this day and age, where 30 million people in the United States alone suffer from eating disorders, and 60% of women surveyed reported hating their bodies.

So, why can't I get fully behind it?

The answer may seem a bit nitpicky to some, and I suppose it is. But before you choose to support something, you should always make sure you're aware of every facet of it. I didn't think too much of this problem until I really sat down and thought about it, and I realized--why is all of this movement centered around beauty?

People should not have to be beautiful in order to love themselves. Beauty is an entirely subjective thing, relative to every single human in existence. You should love yourself even if you are not conventionally attractive.

The movement does a good job of pretending this little detail is important. After all, everyone is beautiful, right? Well, not actually. And that's completely okay. Everyone should be content with not being the traditional sense of "beautiful"--why can we not instead strive to be intelligent, creative, interesting, skilled, hardworking? Our bodies may not be beautiful to the eyes of others, and that's okay. You are not obligated to be attractive for someone else, and you shouldn't base your self-worth off of your appearances.

It's okay to not be pretty or handsome. I am not, but that doesn't mean I can't love myself anyway. Your body is just what holds in all of that wonderful personality. It should be treated as the venue rather than the concert--it's where the good stuff is, but it's not the most important part.

While I appreciate the BoPo movement overall, we as a society should be striving to love ourselves based on our strengths rather than our physical attributes. You should still find ways to make yourself feel better about your body but focus on the amazing things you bring into the world rather than whether or not your thighs jiggle or if your nose is small enough. We need to stop being obsessed with looking good and replace that wasted energy with love for your personality and soul.

So stop basing your self-love off of your body! It's okay if you are ugly. As cheesy as it is, what is inside is what's important. Remember this next time you talk BoPo--it's about what you do with yourself, not how you look.