Self-Esteem

As a teenage girl, I’m pretty self-conscious about my appearance, especially when I’m around other teenage girls who I feel, look better than I do. I know I’m not the only girl in America who feels this way either.  According to Oprah.com, 76.2% of teen-agers are self-conscious or dissatisfied with their appearance. Over 70% of 15 to 17 year old girls avoid going to school or other public places when they are worried about their looks. And according to dosomething.org an astounding 75% of these girls have engaged in negative activities such as self-harm, bullying, disordered eating, or abuse alcohol and drugs.

 Young women feel they have to be perfect because that’s what society says; you have to wear a certain brand of clothing and wear your hair and make-up a certain way and you have to be so tall and you have to have the right amount of skin showing off and you have to have a certain facial structure, the list is never ending. Some girls believe that they have to be what society tells them to be.

 Through all of this crap society tells us to be we get lost in what we should be and not in what we want to be; we lose our own self-worth and aren’t even catering to our own needs anymore, society has made us mind-less, soul-less clones. We forget that we are part of society and that we do in fact have a voice. We get so lost in society’s standard of beauty that we forget who we are, you’ve forgotten who you are. That’s a really scary thought, to know that you have no idea who you even are anymore.

 It’s so sad that we don’t even realize what we’re doing to ourselves, or what we’re doing to our families, or our society. By obeying the standards of beauty society has set for us we’re just feeding the fire. It’s even sadder to think that we’re afraid to be who we are, but in all honesty we are afraid, I’m afraid.

 Self-confidence isn’t about going with the flow, it’s about stepping out and being your own person, even if you’re scared. It’s about loving who you are, not what society wants you to be. Yeah, it’s hard, you don’t want to be judged and ridiculed, but isn’t it worth it if you know who you are? If you’re just going with the flow and not catering your own personal needs you’re just judging and ridiculing yourself. Now think, really think, who are you? Be who you want to be and not who you’re told to be.

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