TAC COVID RELIEF ART CONTEST – TEEN WINNER

 

#2  Poem

 Female Beauty Standards

  1. “You can’t wear that skirt is too short you look like a slut” but “you can wear that shirt either it’s too baggy and it makes you look like a bum”
  2. We feel like we will never be enough because we look at “skinny girls” and them saying they are fat but we realize we don’t look like them and if they are fat what do they see me as
  3. Oh no you can’t starve yourself because then “you’re faking it and you need to get meat on those bones” but if you do eat its ”oh who knocked you up this time” or “someone needs a diet” or any other menacing comment people can say to get under your skin 
  4. People say “That shirt is too short” and “you’re asking for it” like when we get touched it’s our fault and yet no one teaches guys not to touch and that no is no
  5. Walking down the street seeing all of the eyes of men begging to touch you and making you uncomfortable with just their look but if we complain about it “oh they can’t control it they’re men” or “don’t dress like that and they won’t look” like if we dress any differently they will learn
  6. I got my mom called by the principal so she could bring me a change of clothes I remind you that is the same mom that is working 2 jobs just to struggle to get food on the table and gas in the car so she can take me to the god forsaken school but no my outfit is more important 
  7. Sitting in class with the eyes of everybody on you and the snickering that seems to echo in the room “you’re ugly” or “you disgust me” these words that seem like kindergarten insults dig deeper than the razor blade you stick in your arm to get rid of these thoughts like if we mark our wrists the problems will go away
  8. When we go to school there is always someone we look at and just think “I wish I looked like her” because the beauty standards are that girls have to be beautiful but the only way we can do that is putting on makeup until we don’t even recognize ourselves anymore and all girls have to have a skinny waist a big butt and boobs with straight white teeth but while you look in the mirror you have none of it 
  9. We look at our phone filled with pictures of models and their “perfect body” and we sit there looking at ourselves and grabbing the fat on our stomachs, we look at our pimples trying to pop them only to make a scar a reminder you will never be as pretty as those girls 
  10. We go to stores and walk around admiring all of the beautiful bikinis but then we look at ourselves and think “people are just gonna call me fat” and “what if my stomach pops out too much and I do look fat” or “what if it squishes down the little bit of boobs I have”
  11. “No tank tops or shorts because then you’re too distracting to the boys” but when they can yell and cat call girls as if that’s not distracting 
  12. If we don’t have our period we are too “immature” but if we do we are “disgusting” and they say “they can smell fish” like we have a choice 
  13. We always have to hang out with people we don’t even like to be considered a “cool kid” or “popular” but all they do is say crude comments and remarks 
  14. We are young we don’t have any problems to deal with but when we look in the mirror and see the words “fat”, ”ugly”, “dumb”, “useless” it’s hard to believe that there are worst things in the world then not seeing your self 
  15. The only time I am happy is when I wake up in the morning, when I have those 5 seconds that I forget all of the horrible things that are happening and all of the painful thoughts that flood my mind like a hurricane and that have so much power over me because I believe them
  16. We have to be “confident with ourselves” and “grateful” but when we look in the mirror and see ourselves we can’t help but think “I wonder what a day like someone else would be like” or “maybe it’s better without me” and then we stand in front of a mirror telling ourselves lies to make us happier until we realize they aren’t all lies, we are worth it, we are beautiful, and we don’t need makeup or validation because when we realize we are worth it the world will light up having one less girl that will kill herself due to beauty standards at a young age