Who are you deciding to be? – Megan Butler
There’s a topic that’s been close to my heart for a few years now and it’s self-image. The idea that a few apps with pictures can change the way you look at yourself, your life and others astounds me. There are millions of people across the world that see images of skinny pretty women, or macho muscular men and most of them think that this is what they should be; so they change themselves to look ‘perfect’. There isn’t such a thing as ‘perfection’ or being ‘perfect’, that’s just something that has been shown to us through the social media and through continuous bullying. The question I have, that will never gain a straight answer is, what does society deem perfect? Is it when girls have to shorten their skirts, cake themselves in makeup and dumb themselves down just to make them look and seem ‘perfect’? Is it when guys have to go to the gym to make themselves look strong and muscular? Or does society want to see everyone being themselves and not looking completely perfect?
No one can answer these questions but ourselves, because as we are society we have the power to change everything and move our planet further into the future. I was talking to my parents at the weekend about how our generation are wiser because we view things from the outside, and their generation are fully immersed into their lives, and they can’t step back and take a minute to realise what they are doing and what they have done. I want you to think properly about these questions for a second, don’t just say that social media is good because you use it, just stop and think about it.
The older generation created social media like Instagram and Snapchat but was it really a good or a bad idea? They created technology but was it really a good or a bad idea? If you think about how much screen time you have on your phone, iPad or laptop a day. It can shock you how much time you actually spend on it.
When you open Instagram and see all those models that are skinny and pretty, you want to be like them because you want society to accept you, before you accept yourself. In life, you need to accept yourself and embrace who you are and people will start to love you for it. Dr. Seuss said “ be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind”. So don’t care what others think because there is always someone who will stick by you and love you for who you are, not who they want you to be.
I watched the film ‘I Feel Pretty’ the other day and the girl finds her confidence to do what she wants and she doesn’t hold herself back. However, she changes who she is as a person and makes friends with the people she made fun of before, for being pretty and wearing expensive clothes and makeup. In the end, she realises that she always had confidence inside her, she just didn’t use it because she was put down by all those images of young and pretty people on social media and the idea that you have to look ‘perfect’. But, you can always rise above the rest of the world by just capturing the very essence of you and using it to your advantage. You shouldn’t care if you’re popular or have no friends because there shouldn’t be a divide, no matter how strange you are, there is always going to be someone who loves you for it.
Emma Watson said “I don’t want other people to decide what I am. I want to decide that for myself.” So this week and every day, month and year, decide who you are before other people judge you and tell you you’re something else. We are all human beings, let’s start from there.
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