While standing in line at a check out, it is inevitable that you will glance at an article where the front page is talking about some celebrity's recent weight gain. If you continue to read about it, the article will most likely have some kind of "unflattering" swimwear shot and a whole paragraph ridiculing them for their poor fashion choice. This is the constant, vicious media cycle; these people have nothing better to do than sit around and judge people because they don't look like your ideal Victoria's Secret/Abercrombie model. The people that write these articles are called body shamers, and they are so much more present in our everyday lives than just being writers in the tabloids.

Now that we are in the digital age, articles that body shame are so much more readily accessible; that doesn't even begin to cover the affect social media has on people's self-esteem. With two thirds of the world’s online population on at least one social networking site, that makes the ability to leave nasty comments on people's photos so much more common. In fact, body shaming is on such a rise that one European study found that the eating disorder anorexia nervosa is rapidly rising and reaching an all-time high.

What I don't quite understand is why people feel it is alright to leave horrible comments about the way another person's body looks. This should not be tolerated and needs to be shut down, for good. The only way to do that is to tell the body shamers why what they're saying won't affect us. I have collected four short letters, and wrote one of my own, to address the body shamers and show them why we love ourselves.

1. Lynn

Dear body shamers,

Nothing that you can say to me is something new that I haven't thought about myself. Just because I have had some low moments and thought poorly about my own body, does not give you a free pass to do so. What I came to realize was that I spent too much time idolizing a figure that only 2% of the population has. The animosity I had for my body once drove me to grow my hair out ridiculously long in order to hide myself with a cloak of it. With that being said, I have never been a person to pay attention to the number on the scale, but I know that I am over weight. I also have a few stretch marks on my hips, and I am aware of it as well as okay with it, I am only human. What I am also conscious of is that I eat healthy, a large majority of the time. My body is not the current ideal physique, and that is totally okay; my body is healthy and strong though. It can run, swim, jump, bike ride, and be active just like anyone else's. My body does not have the metabolism that many people at my age are blessed with, but that is alright because I love myself anyways; nothing that anyone can say to me could possibly change the way that I feel about myself.

Sincerely, the girl without a metabolism.

2. Jenna

Dear body shamers,

No matter how hard you try to convince us, the amount of people you claim have, "the perfect body" is insanely small. You shame larger people for showing a little skin, and smaller people for an assumed eating disorder. You comment incredibly rude things on social media posts to make us feel bad about the way we look. We post pictures on Instagram and Snapchat that make us look good. It means that we were happy with the way we looked or made us feel more confident in ourselves. It's time for us to stop letting people get in the way of that. I am far under the height and weight averages for my age. I've always been known for being the tiny girl and for not growing as fast as the other people. Body shamers like you immediately question my eating habits or lack of them. You criticize how much younger I look for my age. Some days I may feel better about myself than others, but the opinion of my body is mine to have. There are flaws in every person and we should be embracing them, not using them to tear each other down.

Sincerely, the tiny white girl.

3. Sukhpreet

Dear body shamers,

I've heard it all before, maybe even every day of my life, by the people who barely know me, or family members that I've grown up with; I am underweight. My weight and body are none of your business. Only mine. If I am okay with it, why can't you be? Don't ask me if and how much I eat, because you are talking to the girl who can down a family sized bag of chips and has Taco Bell twice a week, or even more. No matter how much I feed my body, I cannot gain a pound. However, I love my body exactly the way it is, and the pros of fitting in the kid's department that come with it.

Yours truly, the skinny little twig.

4. Alison

Dear body shamers,

While writing this letter I've come to the realization that I care too much about other's opinions, especially regarding my looks. I've spent the last seven years of my life concerned with what others would think of me, rather than what I thought of myself. I would wear longer sleeves to cover up my hairy arms, or bigger clothes to hide the very obvious curve in my body resulting from scoliosis. I hid my imperfections because I was embarrassed for some reason, I hated these things about myself because they weren't issues a lot of other people had to deal with. I've realized that I need to focus on myself and for the first time in my life, I'm going to determine my appearance based on what I feel confident in, rather than what society thinks I should feel confident in.

Sincerely, the girl who couldn't care less.

5. Marissa

Dear body shamers,

Fat is not an ugly or dirty word. The belief that myself and others should have their worth based on their outward appearance and weight is ridiculous and disgusting. I am not the skinniest, I am not the biggest but it makes no difference. Some days I love my body, other days I don't, but you don't get to tear me down because of your dirty beliefs. The first time I was called fat, I was twelve. I was a child. I stopped eating because I didn't want to be made fun of. Nobody, especially a little girl, should feel that way. Ever. I am happy with how I look and it took a long time to get here. Unless I ask you, I don't want your opinion on how I look, how much I eat, or what I'm wearing. Let me do me.

Sincerely, the girl that found love for herself.

Each young woman that wrote a short letter inspires me to an extent that I cannot articulate. Though I only was able to get ladies to write for me does not mean that the body shaming men face is of any lesser value. I do acknowledge that though it is more prevalent in the feminine physique, the male form has its unjust haters as well.

Body shaming will not be shut down immediately, but over time, and with effort, it is a completely attainable goal to have body shaming deemed intolerable. I believe that it is a duty of every person who has been called a nasty name for the way their body looks to speak out and shut down those who have attempted to put others down. Body shaming is a huge issue in today's society, and the only way that it can be stopped is for a unified front to show that the words of hate have no value.