Beauty is-
Being skinny but not so skinny people call you anorexic
Being tall but not so tall that you loom over boys
A toned stomach but not so toned that you are merely reduced to the traits that make you masculine
Smiling but only if your teeth are straight
if not why bother
people will just look away
Beauty is being confident but not so confident that you love yourself
Beauty is knowing your worth but not so much that you think you are worthy of someone who appreciates you
Beauty is ugly in so many more ways than one
yet
we still try to be beautiful
we still starve ourselves
we still hide our true image
work out just the "right" amount
hate ourselves
fall for people who hate us
because the cosmopolitan told us,
that's what real beauty is.
I walk into the department stores
Angels displayed on the screen
“The perfect body for everybody”
“The perfect size even you can achieve”
“The diet even you can try”
“Try this 15 minutes a day and you’ll finally look normal”
Do this
Try that
Starve yourself
Pinch away the fat
Scroll through the feed
The fact that you will never have wings
Never be able to fly away from this never-ending cycle of self-deprecation disguised as a motivational post
Crying yourself to sleep and eating too much what a “relatable teen”
Your insecurities
Are exactly what these companies need
They produce this fake image off of which you feed
It’s the only food you’ll ever need.
I walk into the department store angels on the screen
And i have never felt more like an alien
Yet there is no other place for me to be
Fake perceptions
Fake beauty
Fake standards
(-They all seem so real when you’re told it should be your truth)
-illustration by Emily Wolfson-
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