You turn on the television, you open a magazine, or you open the internet, they're always there. There she is. That girl, standing there, or sitting down, wearing barely anything. She's reminding you that you should be like her, that you aren't beautiful if you don't look like her. She's the kind of girl that makes you wonder if you're ugly.
"I want to look like her!" This might be the sentence always running through your head. You not only want to, but now you're starting to think you have to. Truth of the matter is, not many people at all look like that, and you definitely don't have to. Sadly, most teenage girls don’t know this, and many start taking desperate measures to become like them. Many girls just lose control, and are willing to do anything; this is where many eating disorders come through. Anorexia nervosa, or just anorexia, is one of them. You start thinking very badly of your body shape, and you just completely stop eating, and start skipping out on meals. Some girls lose so much weight, but they become so unhealthy, and skeleton-like, they don’t even realize it though, because their disorder has altered the way they see themselves. Another one is bulimia nervosa, or just bulimia, which is different from anorexia. Bulimics eat as much as they possibly can, but then force themselves to throw up everything they have eaten. These disorders are not pleasant to deal with, and they begin to control your whole life.

So, is this the media’s fault? They are the ones that make sure the girls in the magazines or on television are a certain weight and height. They are the ones that airbrush the girls so much that you can’t find a single flaw. Maybe they don’t realize they’re doing it, but they are destroying lives, and ruining girl’s images of themselves. Something they should try doing, is showing true, genuine girls, of all shapes and sizes. Girls that are real, girls that are happy to be who they are. Because to me, any girl who is happy to be who she is, is beautiful. Any girl, who is real, is beautiful. Any girl, who is genuine and true to herself, is beautiful. So, to all the teenage girls out there, next time you look in a magazine, and all you see is a girl who weighs 90 pounds, rip it up. Just tear it, and throw it in the garbage. Then go look in the mirror, and say to yourself, “I am beautiful.” There are many girls whose lives are in turmoil now, because instead of saying that to themselves, they decided they must look like the girl in the magazine.