Shopping for and trying on new clothes is always a challenge. Some are too baggy, others too tight and some really just make you look like a potato. It's no secret that most people, especially women, have difficulty with negative body image. Everyone is overly critical of some part of their body in comparison to others. "She's skinnier than I am." "She has perfect ears, and mine stick out funny!" "Oh man why do I look like a tomato in every selfie I take?? I swear my face is too round." It's human nature to have insecurities. My main insecurity happens to be my legs.

I've always had muscular legs. My calves are about double the size of my ankles and my thighs about double the size of my calves. To make it simple, I have man legs. It literally looks like I never skip leg day, but here's the thing: I don't go to the gym at all. I literally was born with my big calves and can't ever trade them in for the cute, dainty legs that I have wished I had ever since I began my obsession with Disney Princesses (But really Disney, it is a bit ludicrous that you have movies about the feelings inside our brains, but not one about a princess with extremely toned legs. I don't think it's too much to ask for.)

For years I've had to deal with jeans and leggings ripping on the inseam of my calf, my inability to wear boots unless they are oddly large in the calf area, and the odd looks people give me at track meets.

But even though my legs are so called "ripped" (that's an actual quote given by a guy in my pre-calc class, by the way), I cannot stand the thought of trading in my legs. If there were such thing as a leg muscle reduction I don't think I could bear the idea of going under the knife for it, simply because my legs are me. They do not define me by any means, but they certainly help create the person that I am.

They made me a strong jumper and were one of the main reasons that I made the Varsity Cheerleading team as a sophomore. They helped me win the 100m and 200m dash for my school's track team. My legs make me stronger. Without my man legs I would not be the athlete that I am today, I don't think I'd be able to keep up with my tall friends, since one of their steps equal about two of mine, and I most definitely would not be able to make it to class in less than 5 minutes. So, even though I think my it-doesn't-look-like-it-but-I-regularly-skip-leg-day legs are ugly and masculine, really they are one of my virtues.

I guess what I'm trying to say in this post is although I hate them when I try on new jeans or wear a sundress, I love and am proud of my man legs. I just have to accept that I'm going to have to flaunt that sweet muscular tone and accept my title as "Calf Queen" (another real quote provided by a peer), and really, everyone should embrace their man legs, pointy ears, or tomato heads because they contribute to the unique beauty that's apart of everyone. If every girl looked like Blake Lively and every guy looked like Ryan Reynolds, the world would be filled with beautiful creatures, but they would be so common that they would be considered average. Eventually, if somebody came along with some killer calf muscles or a unique nose shape, all of the beautifully average people would be double-timing it at the gym or undergoing plastic surgery to gain that new unique quality. Regardless of what other people look like, love yourself and love your man legs because you never know who envies you for that quality.

.

P.S. I mean seriously y'all, I'm pretty sure that my gastrocnemii could cut rock in this picture.