Growing up in today's society can be very hard. Through social media and fellow peers, most people are taught from a very young age that you are supposed to look a certain way. We are constantly judging ourselves and comparing one person to the next. But why? What happened to being original? Since when is being "basic" a good thing? We should learn to love ourselves and encourage individuality. We should admire and accept those that are different from us.

Lets start with Barbie.

We all know who Barbie is, and if you were anything like me, you obsessed over her when you were little. I remember sitting there as a 5-year-old and wishing that I would grow up to look just like her. Little did I know that would never be possible. Everything from her proportions to her seemingly perfect hair and face. It's practically impossible for someone to obtain this look, and as upsetting my 5-year-old self would be, I am glad that most people do not look like this.

Now to the Kardashians

I am not trying to hate or trash the Kardashians, but let's be honest, they are not doing a good job of being "role models" and being in the public eye. I think there are now 12 seasons of "Keeping Up With The Kardashians," and in each season they are changing. Not just emotionally, but physically. If you were to watch each season through, you would see the slight transformation due to nose jobs, face lifts, lip injections and so much more. Though they can do what they want to their own bodies, it seems that it is sending a bad message to many girls all over the world.

Lastly, Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was one of the most popular sex symbols in the 1950s. Just like the Kardashians, thousands of girls admired and wished to look like her. From what most people know, Marilyn Monroe was self-loving, and she strived to look her best and, most importantly, healthiest. This photo, along with many other photos, shows a woman not showing off everything that she has. She is not abnormally proportioned, and she is most definitely not a size 2.

When did the ideal body image go from this to being a size 0? I think that we should focus more on how to be the healthiest and best us that we can be. Instead of googling how to lose weight in 20 days, we should google how to become all organic, and how to substitute healthy things for unhealthy things. We should all strive to set a new standard on "perfect."