Women are sent hundreds of messages on a daily basis, which tell them they’re not good enough.
Adverts telling them they need to buy new boobs to feel happier and confident.
Celebs selling them appetite suppressants, so they can stop putting on weight and being an eyesore.
Porn videos brainwashing them to think if they don’t look or act that way in bed, their man won’t be satisfied.
Magazines shaming anyone who doesn’t look like an eight stone runway model in a bikini.
There is a war aging against young girls and women in our world today.
Like most wars, you can trace it all the way back, and once again you’ll find greed rearing its ugly head at the root.
Some people will do anything to make money.
They’ll prey on the insecurities and vulnerability of our young girls.
They’ll break women down until they’ve lost all their confidence, just so they can sell them shit to “fix” them again.
How do I know?
Because that’s exactly what I see friends and strangers going through every damn day.
And that’s exactly what they did to me.
After a tough period of bullying around the age of 12 to 14, my confidence was at an all time low, and it took years for me to repair it. In the meantime, I wrestled with the reflection staring at me in the mirror.
The bullies were the ones who beat me down to begin with, but afterwards, it was the magazines, the TV shows, and the ads that continued to break me.
Go on this diet where you don’t eat anything but watermelons, and you’ll drop 10 pounds and be fabulous.
Get a smaller nose, so you won’t keep thinking about how offensive your large nose is to others.
If you’re a slim, “pretty” white woman, you can make it on reality TV and find fame and fortune.
No woman is born hating herself.
That behaviour is learned. And they try their best to make sure we all get the lesson.
According to research by Dove, only 4% of women across the world believe they are beautiful, while 72% of girls feel intense pressure to be beautiful.
92% of teen girls would like to change something about the way they look if they could.
Am I the only woman who finds that heartbreaking to know?
Am I the only woman who feels immense pressure to try and do something to change these stats?
Am I the only woman who thinks fuck money, we need to change our ways, and help our struggling young girls?
Because they are living through an all time low when it comes to self worth.
They are constantly exposed to influencers and adverts that are teaching them to hate themselves.
It wasn’t so bad when I was in high school, because mobile phones had only just become a thing, and facebook was way off in the future. We sent black and white text messages, and played snake now and then, and called our parents when they were late picking us up from school.
But mobile phones are now like our new limbs.
They are an extension of us, and we carry them everywhere. Even when we’re selective about who we’re friends with, and the types of people we follow on social media, we cannot escape the messages that are designed to specifically target those of us who are vulnerable, and exploit those insecurities.
I remember watching a bit of shitty daytime TV back in the UK last year, and this advert came on which was marketing and selling breast implants.
It was 2pm on a Tuesday. How is that even allowed?
There could’ve been an eight year old girl watching that while she was ill in bed, and home from school that day.
What message are companies like this sending to our young women? And does anyone even care? Because it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.
Here’s the way I think these companies see it: the more broken we are as women, the more money there is to make.
They probably read stats about our teen girls being in crisis, and rub their hands together in delight, as they whip up their next batch of shit to package all pretty in pink, and sell us.
They do not give a fuck about women, so it’s on me and you to give as many fucks as we can.
To quit paying attention to anyone who is involved in the betrayal of women, and whip away the pedastool we’ve placed under their feet.
To stop buying shit we don’t need, and start learning to love and appreciate our hearts and our souls.
To embrace our imperfections and find the beauty in them, instead of trying to wish them away.
To teach our young girls that who they are is so much more than good enough.
The world is at war with women today.
Which side are you on?
