"Gah, my hips are huge!"
"Oh please, I hate my calves."
"At least you guys can wear halters; I've got man shoulders."
Although this may just be a quote from a popular movie that almost every girl has seen, we seem to overlook this scene and not even think about what message it is delivering. This scene where the girls are all looking in the mirror and insulting themselves while also trying to one-up each other with their imperfections.
But for many people, this scene hits close to home. Our society has become so consumed in self-shaming that we all fail to even realize the true damage it's doing. We have become almost numb to this behavior, just accepting it as an every day thing that people do, and there is no problem with it at all.
Throughout our lives, we have often been taught to accept who we are, to love ourselves, and to be nice to others. And that's how it is, right? Not quite. Ironically, although we have almost all had this message preached at us ever since we can remember, it seems that our society is failing to do so.
We are living in a society in which "Love Yourself" and "Be confident in your own body" are some of the many so-called "positive" messages that are always drilled into our brains and plastered all over social media, in school hallways, and just about anywhere you go.
But the problem with our society is that as soon as someone follows this message, they are labeled "vain" or "conceited." For example, if a girl is 100 percent confident with her body and tells others that she loves her body, her peers will quickly say that she should not be so self-centered or that she is egocentric.
But on the other hand, if there is a girl that is constantly bashing herself, people will automatically jump in and shower her with compliments and tell her that she is beautiful in her own way or some other fillers we tend to use when someone talks badly of themselves. You know the drill.
So why is it that we would constantly teach this message of self-love and encourage everyone to accept themselves as they are, but as soon as they do, we shoot them down for it?
If someone is confident with how the look, they should, and do, have every right to openly admit that they love themselves without being bashed for it. And girls that are not confident with themselves should continue to be taught to love themselves, but not shot down as soon as they are actually satisfied with themselves.
It's all a setup. Society will tell us to love ourselves, but then shame us for it. Society is setting us up for self-hatred and overall negativity toward ourselves and others.
So my message to any and everyone is that we should all be confident with ourselves, and we should all be allowed to openly admit that without being judged for it. Don't allow society to tell you what is right and wrong. The ideas and trends of society will be forever changing, but you only get to live one life and you may as well be confident with yourself, forget what everyone else says or thinks about you, and confidently enjoy it to the fullest.
