Throughout the childhood of a girl the pressure of looking a certain way, only to please others, becomes too strong to ignore. Once a girl hits eighth grade she is treated differently depending on her physical appearance.

Is this fair? Why does this happen?

The answer is body judgment, unreachable expectations, and physiques that not all young girls can achieve.

As teenage girls grow into the years of high school, acne, stretch marks, and normal physical traits are told to be hidden.

One study reports that at age thirteen, 53 percent of American girls are “unhappy with their bodies.” This grows to 78 percent by the time girls reach seventeen.

When asked “Are you happy with your body?” 43.2 percent of teens answered “yes.” Yes, less than fifty percent of girls do not feel that they are beautiful in their own bodies.

That may be due to any reason of their lives, family standards, social standards, or even their own standards. The point is, girls are forced to conform to unrealistic and cruel standards. Eating disorders are more common in teenage girls than it is in anyone else. 

When I was in eighth grade, the end of the year party was to go to the Ravine Water park with the whole class. At this time I was not comfortable, or even close to confident in what I looked like. Wearing a swimsuit in front of all the popular girls, in my mind they were what I should look like, but I didn’t.

I looked like Eden, and no one else looks like me.

Confidence is gained with self-growth and acceptance, no one looks like you, so as One Direction sang,  that’s what makes you beautiful.

Source: now.org