Society.

Identity, beauty, love, a sense of wanting to belong

Searching for acceptance, looking for a reprieve from the voices all around you

Screaming insults, calling out your mistakes, Shouting that you

Your height, your weight, your hair, your skin, that you as a person are unworthy

Unworthy of a man, unworthy of friends unworthy of anything that will make you happy

Anything that brings a smile to your face

And they see the way your eyes crinkle at the corner when you smile

The way your nose scrunches up when you're laughing with your friends

But they don't see how truly beautiful you are

They don't see how many tears you shed every night

Because you don't feel beautiful

They have led you to develop a genuine hatred for yourself

Because you want nothing more than to feel worthy of something for once in your life

For all of the small flaws that you once didn't notice

But are now screaming in your face

Refusing to disappear from your person

No matter how hard you try to fix them

And as the days go on the hatred gets worse and worse and you start to wonder

Why you're even here when everybody hates you anyways

You start to wonder what the point of living is because no matter how hard you try

You fall short in every possible way

They don't see that a number on a scale

Does not define your being

They don't know that numbers are just that

That they are not a definition of a person or a ticket to acceptance

They don't realize that perfection is a standard

That nobody can achieve

So they, like you, will die trying to become something that they will never be

They don't realize how much they destroy other people

But more importantly how much they destroy themselves

Because they will never achieve a higher status simply by purchasing new clothes

Or trying a new makeup brand

They are trying to gain acceptance but are becoming known for the brand of their shoes

They are becoming known for the clothes they wear,

Which with time become tighter and smaller to draw more attention to themselves

But when did discomfort become the price for being beautiful?

When did revealing as much skin as possible become the definition of lovely?

When did respect become an option instead of an obligation?

When did your body become more attractive than your personality?

Darling, when did a man begin to define if you were worth it?

When did other people determine whether or not you deserved to be happy?

Do not let society decide who you are

Or how you should look

Or what you should be

Do not let society define

Who you should depend on

And who you should love

And what you are worthy and unworthy of

Do not let society define

Your right and wrong

Do not let society define you.  

Do not fall victim to the lies and the hatred and the impossible standards

Do not live by the rules set upon you by a world of people

Who have no desire to speak to you unless it is to spew judgemental falsehoods onto you

Do not place your worth on the way your hair falls

Or the size of the gap between your thighs

Do not place your worth on the amount of makeup you wear

Or the condition of your skin

Do not place your worth on the clothes that you wear

Or the size of your jeans

Do not place your worth on your physical appearance

But instead place your worth on the inside

Place your worth on the compassion that is hidden in your heart

Place your worth on the love you pour onto other people

Place your worth on the things that matter

And spend your time with the people that matter

Do not surround yourself with people

who consist of ugly personalities hidden beneath a pretty face

Rather, surround yourself with people who show you they love you, flaws and all

And I promise darling, you will feel that you are worth more than gold

Because you are

-LS