The Difference Between Men and Women; Why Loving Yourself is Important

By: Mia Jensen.

WARNING! This is a sensitive topic so if you are triggered easily, you might want to check out some other articles.

Editor’s note: I (the editor) am a boy and this article is mostly to inform girls. If you are a boy, then this can provide a perspective on the life of a girl.

Have you ever wondered why the dress codes are so different based on the way you identify? Like for boys, they can go in a baggy t-shirt with holes or even shirtless in public but for girls, we can’t even show our shoulders. And at school, don’t get me started, but we can’t even wear spaghetti straps. I know those are small, so maybe we could wear lasagna straps???                                                         

But for real. For girls it’s hard. You’re constantly getting judged on your appearance or what you eat. It hurts, and I know because I’ve had experience with this. It happened a few weeks ago, and many other times. A few weeks ago I was judged for macaroni with bacon bits! 

That is one of my favorite foods, so if you’re guessing I stuffed my face with it, you’re right. But when I was eating, a group of girls and boys walked by, and they gave me dirty looks, called me mean names, laughed at me, and pointed at me. 

You know how hurtful that was to me? The worst part about it is they gathered all of their friends around to look at me eating! While I stuffed my face with mac and cheese, the crowd grew bigger, and I grew smaller. I felt so alone and like I was being targeted. This microaggression wasn’t so micro and it turned into bullying and felt like a personal attack.

 I didn’t eat anything after that. I went home and cried. I told my mom and she told me,

“Love yourself, no matter what. You’re perfect as you are. Don’t change that.”

While I took that to heart, I also took all of the horrible mean things and I made myself feel horrible.

One of the worst scandals policing girls in schools that I’ve heard about was the Florida Bartram Trail High School photoshop editing for their yearbook. 

They took photos of the girls and covered more of the chest because it was, “showing too much skin.” I mean, they didn’t even try to make it look good. A lot of the girls and their parents were fuming and the school board didn’t do anything. This is not okay and this can’t keep going on. For girls, it is hard to “keep up appearances”. You know how many times a DAY girls get told to stop slouching and suck in their stomach because it makes you look fat? It’s probably a lot more often than you think. That’s why today and every day, you should love and accept yourself for who you are.  And these three words should stick to you for the rest of your life, “ just love you.”