Since a very young age, I had developed the notion that I was not as 'beautiful' or 'pretty' as some of the other girls of my age. And this was because, I had a skin darker than them, and was really thin. Teenage turned out to be a little more difficult because apparently, I was smaller than the measurements that the society had set for me. It was engraved in my mind that being "dark-skinned", "skinny", and "small", I would never be able to fit in among my fellow teenagers.
It's been a year since I've finished school, and I'm out in the world among new and different kinds of people. Although I'm still struggling to overcome all the negativities that the society had poured upon me because of my outward appearance, with every passing day, I'm trying to care lesser. Building up my confidence without caring about people's negative opinions is my major challenge right now. When I look back to the days when I was younger, I understand that there's no particular person to blame for this- not my friends, not my parents, not anyone. This situation of constant body-shaming and looking down upon each other is not going to change unless the society, as a whole, becomes aware of the grave negativity it is showering upon everyone and decides to make amends for the damage already done to so many. The change has to come from within all of us- me, you and everyone else surrounding us.
I just want to remind all my readers out there, that you're very beautiful- you all are beautiful in your own ways, and nobody has the right to tell you otherwise. Whatever your skin color, your weight, your size is, let nobody make you feel less worthy for it. Know your worth and make others feel worthy and beautiful. Let not the society decide if you're beautiful or not. Strive to make this world a wonderful place to live in, where people would look up to you for your achievements, and not your outward appearance. And I hope someday we'll live in a world where beauty standards and adjectives describing the body would completely disappear, and people of all colors, sizes and sex would feel as worthy as everyone else.💝
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"You are really pretty" |
