I remember in elementary school the first time I looked myself in the mirror and compared myself to Britney Spears on the cover of a magazine. I stared at my reflection in my blue ruffle swimsuit with whales all over it. I looked at my stomach and legs for a little too long, constantly checking what she looked like on the cover and looking back at myself in the mirror.
It doesn’t take long for a little girl to be shown what she needs to look like or what makes her “wanted” and it turns into a cycle for the rest of her life. It seems like it only gets worse with age. College-aged girls constantly looking at other girls’ Instagrams judging, tearing another female down through a screen, and making any unhealthy justification she can to make herself feel okay about her physical appearance compared to the girl in the photo.
It’s a sickness that starts from birth. Women should be competing in athletics, competing for jobs, competing in things that build character and build accomplishments, not for Instagram likes and comments that give a female a two-minute feeling of acceptance of her worth. There is nothing wrong with posting on social media and sharing experiences, but when it consumes your world and it becomes an addiction is when it becomes a problem.
The idea of “beautiful” and “sexy” should come from self-confidence, intelligence, humor, and things that give a person foundation. A girl should love herself the most when she accomplishes something she’s worked so hard for or when she’s laughing so hard her stomach hurts. These are the most beautiful moments. If I had a dollar for every time a day I heard a girl tear down another girl’s physical appearance, I could probably end world hunger. The problem is females don’t even realize how much they do it and no one seems to realize that calling each other degrading names only gives men the okay to call us degrading names.
It’s not that girls care about makeup, clothes, and social media; it’s that we are caring for all the wrong reasons, to fulfill someone else’s expectations. We should be loving ourselves, loving each other, and encouraging one another along the way. From here on out, consider this: am I doing this for me? Is this increasing my self-worth and bettering the perception I have of myself regardless of whether others approve of it or not? Do things for you, look good for you, do things that make you happy. Don’t look for anyone else’s approval of your physical appearance, because you will let yourself down. Proudly stand in the mirror, know that you are good enough, and don’t tear others down to make them think they aren’t. The day we start teaching every young girl that they can make someone fall in love with their thoughts and that they can engulf the world with compassion is the day the mentally degrading competition will end.
