Frustration Nation

I'm angry. I'm angry about the state of the society in which girls have to grow up today. I'm angry that despite our most valiant efforts, we continue to be bombarded and negatively affected by the women we see in the media. You can say it, how overdone and almost cliche this topic has become. But for myself, I must rage against the unfair expectations that we have developed for ourselves, largely due to the unattainable body types we see on every magazine cover, in every editorial, every billboard, commercial, and music video. It isn't fair. And it isn't right.
I'm angry that no matter how hard I try, I envy these girls. I envy the simplicity of their silhouettes, I envy their spotless faces and I envy the recognition they receive for their win in the genetic lottery. I'm tired of fighting feelings of insignificance and ugliness every time I read a magazine, or watch a show on television.
I'm angry that an industry that is so insanely plastic and so transparently shallow can have the power to dismantle my self esteem, when I've worked for so long and so diligently to learn how to love me for me, without the condition of looking a certain way.
I'm angry. I'm so tired of the hypocrisy that flows through the veins of a society that preaches self esteem while really bringing us down with impossible standards of perfection that can only be achieved by means of photo shop or starvation.
It's wrong. Really wrong. But let's get real here, is this honestly going to change? Or is it something we need to learn to live with, this feeling of inadequacy and mediocrity when comparing ourselves to women whose rail thin exteriors have gained them countless accolades and turned them into goddesses whom we worship almost religiously?
It's really sick when you think about it.
And something has to change.
Or else we will be swallowed up by starvation, diet pills, and plastic surgery.
We deserve to love ourselves, we deserve to look in the mirror and feel beautiful, not because we are what a magazine says we should be, but because we are proud of who we are and what we stand for and because gosh darn it, we think we look pretty damn hot thank you very much!
Easier said than done right?
But we need to work on this, and maybe if we all work together, we won't have to stand in front of a mirror scrutinizing our bellies, our cellulite (which is NORMAL) and the pimples that pop up monthly (also NORMAL!).
Alright, though I could go on forever, I'll stop here and let you process all of this until next time.
Love you all, and I hope you love yourselves too.
Until next time,
Steph