Essay by Dimitrina Dimova

Am I beautiful enough to be liked? 

The high expectations and unrealistic standards teenage girls have to face daily 

“Mirror, mirror on the wall…” 

I am staring at my disappointing, young image. I see the coarse, dry skin and the countless  pimples spread all over my sixteen-year old face. I start counting them but I quickly lose count.  Then, I glance at the untidy eyebrows and short eyelashes, but my eyes rest on my thin lips and  slightly crooked teeth. 

I wish I had unblemished skin and full lips. 

Finally I take a look at my body, but see too much unwanted hair all over it, my breasts are  small and the flat side-view doesn’t have the curves I see on the television every day. 

I wish I weren’t ashamed of my body hair and small breasts. 

My waist is not curvy like all the girls I have seen on social media but is rather shapeless. I wish I had an impeccable body like the “perfect” women I come across daily on social media,  in TV commercials and even out in public. 

Am I not pretty enough for people to like me? Why do I feel like I have to compete with all of  these flawless women? 

“Who is the fairest of them all?” - Not me! 

The biggest challenge facing most of us females in my country today is the emotional pressure  caused by social media’s impossible-to-achieve beauty standards. 

In today’s society, where technology is becoming more advanced and people become  increasingly dependent on it, social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook and many  more, have gained popularity and continue to reach a wider audience. These platforms display  beauty standards that are impossible for young, impressionable girls like me to reach. The ideal  body nowadays is an exaggerated hourglass body shape as well as full breasts and a perfect  sized bottom. We young girls tend to compare ourselves to influencers with such bodies on the  internet. Therefore the beauty industry can have a negative effect on a woman’s self-esteem,  making us inexperienced teenagers feel insecure and self-conscious about our own body, which  has proven to damage one’s mental and physical health. Furthermore I believe that we, as a  community, need to ask ourselves one question: “Who is benefiting from this? While it is true  that women who promote and advertise products on social media or in TV-commercials profit  from young females who believe in them, but big corporations behind the scenes gain lots of  advantages as well. 

When comparing today’s beauty standards with those from the 1950s- 1990s, you can definitely  see a huge difference in the values we have today to the ones from 60 years ago. The mindset  that we are growing up with nowadays no longer seems to be focused on family or happiness  but rather wealth and fame, superficiality and appearance. 

We mustn’t forget that photoshop and editing engines have become so advanced that it becomes  increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction. This brings me to my next point  that the effects of the emotional pressure on society might not seem that destructive at first  glance, but if you take a closer look you start to realize that there are lots of serious  consequences. As an example the “thin” ideal can cause increased depression as well as extreme 

dieting which often results in eating disorders. Obviously these ideals result in a destructive  domino effect. 

Additionally, being self-critical isn’t always a bad thing, as it is a good way to recognise and  accept one’s own flaws and mistakes, but there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed in order to  keep your mental health intact. 

I believe that all of us have something to offer. Your outward appearance shouldn't matter.  Everyone is beautiful in their own way and I think it’s way better to be yourself rather than try  to impress others around you. Do what makes you happy. 

I don't think that there is a true solution to this issue, but standardizing body imperfections is a  step in the right direction, because they are totally natural and nothing to be ashamed of. The  solution I would propose is to spread awareness that not everything that is displayed online is  realistic. Every school should employ an experienced person who young girls can rely on and  discuss their issues with. Ideally, annual school gatherings concerning beauty standards and its  industry would be very helpful for young girls’ self-confidence. 

Finally I ask you, the reader, to take a look in the mirror and understand that having flaws makes  you unique as well.