The beauty standards in our society are constantly changing, and it may not be for the best. There have been lots of different trends go around since in middle school and here are a few: the thigh gap, thin with a flat tummy, thick, and thick thighs/booty with a tiny waist. One thing these all have in common are that they are not natural for everybody because we all have a different body shape/bone structure. I remember trying so hard in high school to gain weight and grow a booty because that is when that trend started, but that is not how my body is shaped and though I have gained muscle, I have also realized that I will never look like the girls I see on Instagram and that is okay. There is so much judgement nowadays, and someone always has something to say. It is not normal to look like those individuals we see on Youtube and Instagram because it is either in their genetics or it’s plastic surgery. Perhaps it is both. The point is that these beauty standards we have for ourselves and others are not achievable.
Growing up with technology advancing as fast as it did made it a difficult thing to go through because nobody knew just how much our generation would be affected by it. Social media is only increasing and gaining popularity and it’s up to us and the generations after us to put a stop to these “beauty standards” society tries to uphold. There has definitely been more progress and transparency on the influencers side, but also progress within ourselves. Some influencers have spoken up about things they got done and stating that it is in no way natural and that’s all we could ask for. Everyone is human, and if you have an insecurity that makes you so unhappy and you want to “fix” it, then that is your choice, just be real about it and don’t say it’s natural. One big change that I have noticed is how people are starting to practice self-love. It has been one of the newer “trends,” and I hope that one is here to stay because it is such a beautiful thing to actually love yourself for who you are. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and we should celebrate that and love that rather than tear one another apart. This goes for men and women because believe it or not, men go through the same thing as well and that is not talked about often.
Men are expected to be over six-feet tall and pretty built with a six-pack which is also pretty unrealistic. Come on now, ladies. Some of us have seen those tweets saying they’re ignoring any man under six-foot. We have to be better not just with ourselves, but with everybody else. We need to keep breaking down those unrealistic standards and begin setting our own standards.
Keep in mind we are all human, and we all have flaws. We should start embracing them instead of shaming them because imagine if everybody was perfect–how boring would that be?