I don’t care who you are. EVERYONE has experienced insecurities regarding his or her bodies. Everyone. It is completely normal, I mean come on; we live in a society where size 14 is considered plus-sized. The models for American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch are very skinny and starve themselves to get that way. The media sets unrealistic expectations for girls and even guys on how their body should look. For girls, it is to have thinner legs and flatter abs and for guys, it is to be more muscular. In the media, it really isn’t ever good enough. For bigger girls like myself, it is almost impossible to find clothes in stores such as American Eagle and Forever 21. Okay, before you jump down my throat; American Eagle does carry bigger sizes, but online. Forever 21 does have plus-sized clothing and there is even a section of the store for plus-sized girls to shop, but it is so tiny compared to the whole store. The Forever 21 where I live is two stories but only a small small section is designated for bigger girls. And the thing is, I am not that big, I am a 17/18 in tops and pants, depending on which store, but when I shop at all the trendy stores like Forever 21, I feel like I am a size 50 because their stuff runs so small!

One store that I do recommend is Modcloth, an online store. Now if you don’t like boho, indie, and vintage clothing, then Modcloth may not be the store for you, but other good stores are Torrid and Debshop. Modcloth has a great plus-sized selection, going up to 4x. However, their stuff is a little pricier, that’s because their stuff is so unique, things that you won’t find at Pacsun or Brandy Melville, or some other hipster store where almost ever teenage girl shops because she wants to fit in.

I know that this was more about bigger girls, but skinny girls have body issues too. A lot of bigger people feel like skinny girls have it easy, but being skinny won’t make you happier or healthier. Yes, being heavier does carry risks, but if everyone spent their life worrying about risks, we would all be dead. This is why I say to live your life. Don’t worry about your weight becase you are beautiful just the way you are. It doesn’t matter if you are a size 2 or 32; you are beautiful. Another thing is skinny DOES NOT equal healthy. Under no circumstances. There are plenty of skinny people who have terrible diseases, and saying that skinny people will have an easy life is wrong. Yes, it is easier for average- sized people to find clothes, but that doesn’t mean they will be happier. Remember; cancer, depression, STDs, and eating disorders don’t care about size. Any person at any size can be unhealthy.

Coming from a plus-sized girl, it is hard to find clothes. People say that I am confident, and I honestly am. I mean come on, I’m only human and there are some days where I feel crappy about my weight, but the thing is; I don’t generally don’t eat poorly, I don’t eat a crazy amount, and during the school year I am quite active and do exercise a couple times a week. I think that I am genetically big. I am just a big girl and was born that way. I am just naturally that way. There wasn’t a point where I rapidly gained weight, I am just a little bigger, and that is okay.

You may think that I am being a hypocrite by saying to accept yourself and everything like that, because I did lose some weight. I lost maybe 10-15 pounds by eating healthy and exercising regularly. The reason that I stopped was that I got lazy. But I accept myself and the only two reasons I wanted to lose weight (actually three now that I think about it) are because the doctor said that I should, I wanted to fit into clothes, and I thought that boys wouldn’t like me. Looking back, that is so ridiculous. Doctors are always going to tell bigger people to lose weight because of the risks like diabetes and heart problems, but that doesn’t mean that you WILL get those things. Next, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t that big and that there are plenty of stores that have clothes in my size, maybe not some of the trendy teen stores, but stores that have really cute stuff. Lastly, at the time I had this notion in my head that guys only liked skinny girls, but that is wrong, First of all, I know many people who are very big and are happily married. Secondly, about a month ago, I actually met a guy and we really liked each other, and I realized that not all guys care about weight, and he obviously didn’t care that I was bigger.

So to conclude my little speech, I would like to say that you are beautiful. It doesn’t matter if you are skinny, big, short, tall, black, white, straight, or gay. You are beautiful and were put on this Earth to live a happy life, and you shouldn’t let the media or doctors get in the way of your road to true happiness.