Is that really the society we want for ourselves? A false projection of what we look like? We are the new generation, Generation Z. We should be able to change the rules and make it easier for the women coming after us to accept themselves wholly without feeling the need to put on a face for the world to see.
Coming to terms with my own body as a female has always been something I've struggled with. I can always come up with flaws in myself, things that people around me will say don't matter, or aren't a problem. I feel too broad-shouldered, my legs are terrible, my arms are too long, the list goes on and on. I feel uncomfortable in everything I own to wear. Whenever I shop I feel like I am trapped in choosing a size before a style. I have to cover up, wear hoodies in summer, long trousers whenever I can. I hate PE in the warmer weather, not being able to fall back on the excuse of cold to keep my hoodie on. My skin begins to crawl in short sleeves or even the slightest bit of revealing clothing and I feel like everyone is watching me.
To then return home and see all of these pictures online is quite honestly, a nightmare. I feel like I have to compare myself to people who are different genetically, physically and mentally from me. For a long time now, my profile picture on Facebook is a photo from an Anime Avatar Creator website. Not because I particularly like the photo, but because I feel ashamed of what I look like to the extent that I don't think I've actually put an actual photo of myself up since last September. As a female on social media, I feel like unless you want to be judged you have to put not just 100% effort into a photo, but 200%.
All our lives as women, we are told what to wear and when to wear what we like to wear. Magazines used to dominate previous generations, but these days, we can watch our favourite models, supermodels and celebrities online through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. We're a generation exposed to so much media attention, so much focus on making an online profile for yourself. We have to wear clothes with designer labels to fit in. Hollister is still everywhere, but I can honestly say that I own nothing by them. Not because I don't like their style, but due to the fact that to find anything above a size 10 in a Hollister store is impossible. As women we are expected to be a certain size, a certain height and have a certain chest size. If we aren't that size, well, plastic surgery's always an option! In fact, in South Korea, it is a common practice that as an 18th birthday present, you get plastic surgery. Even our main influences in life also advocate going under a knife to right all the wrongs.
Women are treated as first a thing to admire before a person. We're all guilty of it at some point of our lives, seeing a person as an outfit or a body before a personality. To fully accept who we are as women, we need to throw away this instant judgement. And frankly, I know that asking people to do that is impossible. We are humans, and humans are habitual creatures.
So will I ever truly come to terms with my body as a female? Likely, no. I am too easily affected by what I hear, see and experience. Each person is different though, and if I can make at least one girl, sat inside good old English down in the depths of Block F Hell smile, I will feel accomplished. So my message to that one girl who takes it away is this: You know what, you look freaking amazing today and every single day I see you. I wish I could look as good as you do and I appreciate the effort you've put into making yourself look so amazing, but you don't need to put in so much. You look beautiful no matter how long it took to get ready in the morning.
SI