In today’s world females, like myself, are struggling to accept ourselves as we are. These false portrayals of beauty and unrealistic expectations of women in society, makes loving ourselves overwhelmingly difficult. Many of us believe what we see online, on TV, and even in magazines represents a true standard of beauty. However, we could not be further from the truth.

As much as we like to think that Instagram and other social media outlets capture the true essence of women, we are wrong. These outlets simply filter a life full of illusion and false realities of the everyday person. Though we feel the celebrities we see in the media appear flawless and embody “real beauty", they do not. Their appearances are a far cry from what defines honest beauty and an honest depiction of women.

That is why we must stop comparing ourselves to the women we see online and start learning to love ourselves for who we are. We need to stop letting society and social media damage our perception of ourselves. We need to stop reaching for unrealistic standards of beauty, and above all, we must stop hating ourselves for the way we were created. We are beautiful and perfect in our own individual ways. Everyone is made-up differently and that is what makes us BEAUTIFUL.

So the next time you find yourself feeling down for the way you look, take a glimpse in the mirror. You are perfect just the way you are.