After reading Bonnie's post last week, I got to thinking about an old newspaper clipping that I recently came across.
This picture was taken in 1994 when I was a sophomore. I am the in the back row on the far left with the ultra-cool Reba McEntire t-shirt on.
Our small town had a pageant called
Queen of the Lakes
and these other girls and I were all participating.
You know what?
I thought I was ugly.
Not as pretty as all the other girls
in my very small, rural school.
You know what else?
I thought I was fat.
WAY bigger and heavier than all the other girls
in my very small, rural school.
Why?
I don't know.
Because I look at this picture and I think
I'd LOVE to look like that NOW!!
Why do girls have such a poor self-image?
Why does it matter to us what everyone else
thinks of our clothes, our size, our hair, our makeup?
I wish I could have known then that
I was fine.
I lost too much time wishing I looked like so and so,
or wanting to be as thin as so and so.
Why couldn't I have been satisfied with
Me?
Oh, and in case you were wondering,
I was chosen as 1994 Queen of the Lakes...
Our small town had a pageant called
Queen of the Lakes
and these other girls and I were all participating.
You know what?
I thought I was ugly.
Not as pretty as all the other girls
in my very small, rural school.
You know what else?
I thought I was fat.
WAY bigger and heavier than all the other girls
in my very small, rural school.
Why?
I don't know.
Because I look at this picture and I think
I'd LOVE to look like that NOW!!
Why do girls have such a poor self-image?
Why does it matter to us what everyone else
thinks of our clothes, our size, our hair, our makeup?
I wish I could have known then that
I was fine.
I lost too much time wishing I looked like so and so,
or wanting to be as thin as so and so.
Why couldn't I have been satisfied with
Me?
Oh, and in case you were wondering,
I was chosen as 1994 Queen of the Lakes...
Melissa, you have always been beautiful! No one ever really thinks that about themselves though, and especially while young.
ReplyDeleteTami
WOW! Congrats on the win! Really I know that isn't the point. Isn't it funny that no matter what, we can't shield girls from feeling that way? We didn't have media in our face like today yet we all are/were hard on ourselves. I think insecurity is just a sad part of being a girl.
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