Beautiful is what we see on the front page of the cosmopolitan magazine

Size zero, tall, and thin

Spending endless hours in hair and makeup for one simple picture.

But it isn’t simple at all.

Nothing is

“Fake it till you make it” we are constantly hearing,

So we quickly forget what reality really is

Living our lives based solely on lies

But as long as people like what you have to say, it's okay right?

Beautiful is the girl who gets catcalled in the hallway with every step she takes

Feeling worse and worse about herself every single time it happens

Lowering her self esteem more than it already is

Where the senior boys harass the freshman girls,

And our teachers don’t do a single thing about it.

The same teachers that tell the girls to not show off their shoulders

Because it distracts the boys,

Even though the boys were never taught

to control themselves around us

or hold their tongue when we walk down the hall.

Beautiful is the girl in the bathroom, throwing up after a meal

because she wants to be just one size thinner

Just lose a few more pounds

We don't realize how much pain she’s in because

“She looks so good” and

“She is just so thin”

Hiding behind her baggy clothes

Like a monster in the closet waiting for the child to fall asleep.

You can see her bones right through her skin

Just like the skeleton hanging on the wall in science class.

Beautiful is skinny

You cannot be beautiful if you are not skinny

The boys won’t like you

You will not get asked to the school dance

The mean girls will pick at every insecurity you have

Trying to pretend as if it doesn’t hurt you

But it does

And they all know it too.

“Have you ever tried dieting”

“Maybe start a workout plan”

Hearing these phrases

Rips through your flesh like a speeding bullet

Until you can’t feel anything at all.

Can you define to me now,

What beautiful really is?