“At what age do people start getting cynical about beauty?” 

After conception, life starts, as well as the judgment of others. In reality, there is no time away from the opinions of others. Popular belief is that judging starts at around the teenage years, yet it really starts when we are just a fetus. Judgment comes from everywhere and everyone. As a fetus, your nose can’t be too big; as a young woman, you should kick but not too much. Any little thing that can be seen is judged about a person.

When a baby is born, they are categorized into cute or into a potato sack look alike. Yet, people do not take into consideration where a baby just came from. The rude words they say stick with a person for life. Remember how you had a weird-shaped head? You were too small, too big, cried too much, never let anyone rest. Words like these are funny sometimes, yet they can hurt people’s feelings. It can damage the way they look at themselves, and at others.

A toddler should be adorable and obedient, and if not, they are annoying. Do people not realize that kids are just growing and starting to learn? The judgment thrown at  toddlers and children stays with them; they might not be able to remember, but the feeling of self hate and disappointment follows them around. Toddlers should be able to grow in a loving environment, yet, not only are they denied this, they are made to grow up around judgemental people. 

The audacity of the judges to say they are only trying to help is laughable. Being judged by an adult is somewhat tolerable. It gets harder though, when the people your age start judging. It may be someone close to you or it could be a stranger, yet their comments affect the way you live. Since you trust the people around you, it hurts even more coming from them.

When puberty starts, it only gets worse. Now your abilities during sports and during school are both judged, but now everyone is watching. As a girl you can not be too tall or too short. You should not be ugly or overweight, but you can not be too skinny either. As a boy you should not be short or they will laugh. They watch your athleticness with magnifiers, you better not hurt your team. Both girls and boys should have an acne clear face and look good even when they don’t feel good. Not only are our physical appearances judged, our mental abilities are judged too. If you're in the middle you get overlooked, but if you're under the average you should start studying. Many think that the “intelligent” kids get off the hook, but that is a big lie. If a tiny bit of intelligence is shown you need to strive to be better. The best is what you want to be and if not, you didn’t try hard enough.

Since we are little we are told to be ourselves, and to be unique. Yet the second we show a tiny bit of ourselves we are laughed at for not being like the other kids. Many of us are told how to act, what to eat, and the right and wrong things to say. It's a horrible mind game they play. They try to control us and they compare us all against each other, making us hate the other. We slowly turn into mentally unstable robots,  who hate themselves and the world. They never want to let you go, yet they want you to be the perfect independalized kid. They try so hard to make you perfect, not caring how much they hurt you.

Everyone has different definitions of perfection. Strive to be who you want to be and not who others want you to be. Instead of taking the judgements to heart, take all of the anger judgment causes you and use it as determination.