I am not a size 0 and I am proud of that.

Today, I feel there is a lot of social pressure to have the perfect body, the thickest lips, the latest trends, and the newest clothes. I find it totally okay to keep up with fashion and express yourself with the newest trends that come out every so often. But, what really gets under my skin is when the media puts a limit to a body image and standard.

I am clearly not a size zero. I have realized that since I was in grade school. When I was younger, a handful of boys would make fun of my body and shape, as well as call me rude names. It lowered my self-esteem at a young age and I did struggle because of it.

As I grew older, my body changed and so did my attitude. I learned to love myself and my body type. I get compliments on my body like that I have an "hourglass figure." I grew to love my thick thighs and big booty! It's who I am and I would never want to change myself for anyone or anything.

I would rather have curves than be so thin you can see my bones. I really can not even comprehend why being that skinny is considered beautiful and sexy. Forcing your body to be that skinny for social acceptance makes me sick and I really question how and why standards became this dramatic in today's world.

Many companies are using new advertisement campaigns to embrace all body types. Dove's newest campaign for feminine beauty is called #MyBeautyMySay. The advertisement is a reminder that all women can accomplish their goals—despite what “they” say.

Aerie is another company that has a beautiful meaning behind their advertisement campaign. It's called #AerieREAL. They believe it's all about the real you and not your flaws. They do not retouch any of their models to show the real you is beautiful.

Both of these campaigns are just two out of the many that are changing their standards and showing people how to embrace the real you because the real you is beautiful. If more companies did this and expressed more natural beauty in their advertisements, then the standards would be lowered by popular demand.

It took me awhile to get comfortable with the real me. Once I did, I felt a lot better about myself and about being me. Everyone should be confident with who they are. We are all different for a reason and that is the way the world is supposed to be.

All body types are beautiful. Everyone is beautiful. The world is beautiful. Why are we all trying to be the same when we can be our own individual self? Think about that when you see a photoshopped model on the cover of a magazine or on a Television commercial. Be real. Be you.