“Everybody’s different. Nobody’s perfect.”
Those are the words our mothers told us when we were little. Growing up, though, society has bombarded us with exactly the opposite. We must become perfect. We must have the drop dead body, blemish free face, and gorgeous hair. Seeing models running around as a size two portrays an image of perfection. Models also give false advertisement to the men out there; we aren’t all a perfect size two.
There are so many lives that have been impacted with the want of being perfect; girls that are struggling with anorexic, bulimia, and other eating disorders. All because society places the burden that we should be flawless.
I walk around the halls of my school and see nothing but healthy, beautiful classmates. Little did I know that most of them were walking around with a hidden secret. That secret, as I’ve found out, is low self-esteem. According to the Healthy Place, 75% of women think they are overweight. That is a startling thought that many of my friends are a number in that statistic. In my opinion, I firmly believe that girls in the 1900’s didn’t struggle with that thought. Back then, having a T.V. wasn’t an option because it wasn’t available and the same goes for magazines. Things are different these days though and because of that everybody everywhere is struggling with the thought that they aren’t any better than dirt.
Why is it so hard for us to accept who we are and our body shapes? There is only one answer to that; media. Within the past decade, the media has been very influential on people, especially younger girls. You can’t go anywhere without seeing something that relates to beauty. Although I think that beauty is important, it shouldn’t be our main priority. Yet, the media portrays it to be just that. According to World Watch, the United States alone spent $8 billion annually on cosmetics. That number has gone up considerably in the past few years. We spend just about as much money on cosmetics as we do pet food which is about $16 million, according to World Watch.
People will forget what you said but they will never forget what you do. That statement has run through my mind throughout the years and I could never pinpoint what it was about it that was bugging me. One day, it hit me. People say that words don’t matter and you’ll eventually forget what they said but I disagree with that. If someone calls you fat, you’ll never forget it. If the media says you need to be a size two to be considered healthy, you can’t seem to forget that either. It’s not just the words media has pounded into our heads; they’ve also put pictures into our minds. Those images are young women with the perfect body and face; visual images we will never forget.
I am just a statistic. I want to look skinnier. I want to feel accepted. I go walking around wondering if I’ll ever be that perfect size; wondering if I’ll ever be loved for who I am. What people need to start realizing is it doesn’t matter as much about who you are on the outside as much as it does about who you are on the inside. So don’t pay attention to the media’s frivolous comments instead strut your walk. “Everybody’s different.” “Nobody’s perfect.” Maybe we need to try to remember those words of truth spoken to us long ago.

WORKS CITED BELOW:
Holzgang, Jean. "Eating Disorders: Body Images and Advertising." Healthy Place. 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 05 Nov. 2010. <www.healthyplace.com>.
"The Media's Impact on a Young Girls' Body Image." Strong Mothers. ADMIN, 28 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010. <www.strongmothers.com>.