Opinion | At UWM, Survival of the Prettiest

“My thighs are huge.” “I wish I was skinnier.” “My boobs are too small.”

We live in a world fueled by clouded judgment and impractical expectations. It’s a girl-eat-girl world out there, and if you don’t know the new trend, you might as well eat yourself.

Living in a house with three other girls, I am surrounded by comments like these every week, if not every day. It’s practically a scene out of Mean Girls. When Regina, Gretchen, Karen and Cady stand around a mirror critiquing themselves, it’s almost a competition. They magnify their imperfections to the extreme.

“God, my hips are huge!”
“Oh please, I hate my calves.”
“At least you guys can wear halters. I’ve got man shoulders.”

Who can find more imperfections?

Why are we so obsessed with the idea of being society’s version of ‘pretty’? The answer is simple, actually. We are drowning in pictures of girls with perfect bodies and movies with a happily-ever-after ending. Pop culture and beauty magazines have done a great job of praising celebrities and putting models on a pedestal, but every one of us is just as guilty.

We applaud these people and realize just how ridiculous that is. So what do we do? We try to be them. We try to fit impossible criteria, which only includes being the prettiest, skinniest, fittest, smartest, funniest, sexiest and coolest. The worst part? We’re upset when we aren’t all of the above.

Growing up in a small, white-dominated, middle class town, Milwaukee was a shock to me. The diversity was endless and no person I met was alike. So why are we so invested in fitting a certain description when it is normal to be different? Everyone has a different body shape, a different personality and a different story.

We need to stop blaming the media and start loving ourselves. The media feed off of sex and beauty and won’t stop anytime soon, but we have the power. We must channel the energy used to rip apart others, and instead use it to build ourselves up. It is with this decision that happiness in our own skin comes along. It is with this decision that we’ll spend less time critiquing those around us. It is with this decision that we could change society.