All my life I’ve been told to love myself. Be more confident. Eat some more food and maybe you’ll gain some weight. But what would happen if I did love myself?

If instead of saying I hate my body and I said I love myself. I love that I have frizzy hair and I love that my legs are long. What if I said I love that I’m thin but I love that I’m not perfect? What would the response be? People would see me as cocky, self centered, conceited. There is no balance. We can’t be happy with ourselves and show it without being judged. I can’t feel good about my body in a tight dress and tell people. Somehow its normal for a woman to hate her body. A teenage girl feels that a boy doesn’t like her because of her body. Her body defines who she is.

When I was in middle school I was super skinny, I had braces and I was tall. I didn’t look like the other girls in my grade. I decided that my body wasn’t good enough because apparently in my mind, you should have a boyfriend in the seventh grade.

So many people have affected my self confidence. There was a boy named Joshua in kindergarten who told me I looked like a boy. I haven’t cut my hair above my shoulders since then. I have worn something that makes me feel good and then I have been told I look s***ty. How nice. Always being told I was “adorable” or “cute” made me believe I wasn’t pretty. People find it okay to comment on other peoples bodies. It isn’t okay to tell someone “I think you’re an A cup. Theres no way you’re a B much less a C.” Okay, thank you for the input but you aren’t me. “Wow you look bloated today” Oh thank you, I actually was feeling really good about my stomach. For a little while I wanted to be a runway model but I’m not tall enough. Why? I’ve been told I’m tall my entire life. Why am I just now, not tall enough?

At this point I feel as though there is a perfect body but it isn’t perfect to everyone. Some people want a bigger butt or smaller arms, and other people might want the opposite. So maybe having the perfect body wouldn’t make me happy. Maybe to someone else I have the perfect body.