I’m sixteen. Been through a lot of ups and downs. But, through it all I believe that women and girls should not belittle their body image to look like women in the media. I believe that every woman can get that perfect guy, perfect job, with the perfect amount of confidence in themselves.
When I hear about girls going through extremes to make themselves look better it breaks my heart. I’ve been there and walked up and down that road but it kept me walking in circles. Every night when I ate I would wait about 20 minutes and then made myself throw up, I use to cut because I felt a dark whole in my heart because I didn’t look like my friends or look like celebrities, I looked like me. If I knew then what I know now I would have taken pride in my body and looks. Instead, I went through a year of that, I finally got help went to see a psychologist and wasn’t allowed into the restroom after eating.
To this day when I ask for a knife I’m told to show my wrist when I’m done using it. This crippled me in the long run because the urge of looking thin still haunts me it just doesn’t pick up and leave. But, now I can stand up to that demon and know how to cast it away. I learned that there is no ideal body image (not in the classes I took I might add). I learned that from myself. I realized that body image doesn’t matter because people will love you just as much as you love yourself. I have great friends, had great boyfriends, and I have a great life. I can finally look people and myself in the eye and say “This is ME imperfections and all but I love every part of it”. I believe that no one should take my route and if they do I’ll act like a traffic watcher and send them back the way they came. I believe with all my heart and fiber of my being that every woman is made exactly the way they were meant to shine.