“You’re getting fat”

“Do your parents even feed you?” 

“Girl, you need to lose some weight” 

“You should eat more” 

I am tired of having to listen to others comment on my looks. I am tired of listening to people tell me I am not worthy of existing unless I conform to the standards society has prepared for me. Enough is enough. It is not my responsibility to take care of another’s insecurities. 

In fact, I am not the only one who is tired. We all are.  Every day we have other people’s ideas of beauty piled on top of us. Forming a mountain so thick our voices pleading for help cannot travel through. 

The reality is that our society is constantly changing its mind. It will stick with a beauty standard for a certain period, scribble on it, and rewrite a new one. Last year, if someone had thick thighs, they were “thicc”. This year, if you don’t feel a breeze of air between your thighs when you walk, you are unhealthy and unfit. Congratulations! Your body is number one on today’s trending list. But the next moment, your body is no longer praised. You are ugly again. 

It is as though we cannot survive in this world unless we are thin but plump in all the right places, tall, have flawless skin, and have a waist no wider than a sheet of paper.  

We are forced to starve ourselves and feel disgusted whenever we look in the mirror. We suffocate ourselves in clothes that are not designed for our body shapes, wear pounds of cosmetics on our skin, and squeeze ourselves into heels that do nothing but leave scars and blisters on our skin. 

Here is the truth; beauty is a social construct. Perfection is a social construct. There is a reason why no one completely fits the beauty standard and that is because there is no such thing as being perfect.  Beauty is not something you accomplish; it is something you acknowledge within yourself. 

Your life is precious. Your time IS limited. Why should you let society convince you to spend your time hating the way you look?  You should not have to change your appearance just because someone else finds you unattractive or annoying. They are the problem. Screw what they think. This is about your beauty. Not theirs.