First off, nobody is perfect; not even you. That being said, I don’t know why you think you have the authority to put anybody else down. Does it make you feel better about yourself? It shouldn’t, because no matter what, putting someone else down will not make your life better.

I know you probably look in the mirror and find something that you don’t like. That’s why you pick on other people’s insecurities. You want to take attention away from your own. But putting other people down will never make your insecurity go away. By creating a false sense of perfection for other people, you are doing the same to yourself.

I wish you would think before you say something to somebody about their appearance, and I want you to understand that your words can have huge impacts. That girl who you told looks anorexic could be struggling to put on weight but just can’t because that is how her body is built. That girl whose cellulite you pointed out to everyone sees it every day in the mirror already. The girl that you called fat is on medicine that makes her gain weight. I want you to know that everybody has a story behind them that you don’t see, and now your words are hurting them. Remember that words can hurt just as much as anything else, and their effects can be long-lasting.

I want you to know that every day people look at themselves in the mirror and don’t like what they see. They find the littlest things to critique. My nose is too big. My thighs are huge. I look fat today. People body-shame themselves, so they don’t need you to make it worse. I think body shamers are the reason why so many people are so hard on themselves. They try to pick out their own flaws so they already know they are there before someone else can put them down. By pointing out the flaws they already see, you are reinforcing the fact that they don’t seem perfect by society’s standards.

Sadly, we live in a world where so much is based on appearance. People are so quick to judge before even getting to know anybody. This is wrong and needs to change. We live in a world where eating disorders have become a thing of normalcy. Half the time people don’t set off to change their appearance for themselves; it’s always someone else dictating how they think they should look.

I believe that everybody should love themselves no matter what they look like. Nobody is made to be perfect. Perfection does not exist. Be your own kind of perfection, no matter what that is. I believe that even the body shamers should learn to love themselves, because by loving themselves they will see that it’s OK to be different and it's OK to not be perfect. Everybody has flaws, but it’s those flaws that make people unique. So love yourself, and other people. Embrace the differences.