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Pressure and Self-Esteem

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USC chapter.

The other day I stumbled upon this video on youtube and it really struck a chord with me.

We are constantly bombarded with messages about how we should look or act. It’s gotten to the point where we don’t even notice it happening. Instead, we unknowingly compare ourselves with the advertisements we see on a constant basis.

Millions of people each year develop some kind of eating disorder. More than 90% of people afflicted with eating disorders are adolescents and young adult women. The media is partly to blame for this. The rest of the blame is on ourselves.

We need to stop placing such a huge importance on the “ideal” body. Everyone is different. We need to stop judging other girls. Admit it. There have been times you have snickered or made a comment about someone else. Think about how your actions impact other people.

I really worry about the young girls of tomorrow. I really think we must learn to be actively aware of our media consumption and how it affects us. We need to realize we cannot attain an “ideal” body because there is no such thing.

So, girls, take this moment to love yourself. Embrace yourself for who you are and forget about what you think society expects you to be.

Merisenda Bills is a senior majoring in Broadcast and Digital Journalism at USC. She is double minoring in Digital Studies and Interactive Media and the Culture of New Technologies. She is also in the Honors in Multimedia Scholarship Program. She has a passion for writing, photography, and all things multimedia and hopes to find a job doing these things when she graduates college. When she's not running around working on a story, she's doing crafty things like crocheting and painting. She lives her life to the fullest without regrets.