Who gets to decide what beautiful looks like?

When girls grow up watching women and girls get judged, made fun of, and embarrassed in public because of how they look, is it really a surprise that so many of us become obsessed with our appearance?

Everywhere we look, we get messages telling us that we’re not good enough. Be prettier. Be thinner. Wear makeup, but make it look natural. Have perfect hair, but don’t make it look like you tried too hard. Be confident, but don’t be “too much.” Take up space, but not too much. Be attractive, but don’t act like you know you are.

Eventually, all of this gets into your head.

It becomes hard to tell the difference between what you actually think about yourself and what other people have taught you to think. You look in the mirror, and instead of just seeing yourself, you start noticing everything you’ve been told is wrong with you.

Is my hair okay?

Does my skin look bad?

Am I pretty enough?

And the worst part is that we are taught to think these thoughts are our own.

They’re not.

More and more girls and women are starting to realize this. We are questioning these beauty standards and refusing to believe that our bodies exist just so other people can judge them. We shouldn’t have to spend our whole lives trying to look “acceptable” to everyone else.

But then people like Hegseth publicly support exactly the kind of judgment we have been fighting against. They show us that these expectations are not harmless. They actually have consequences. When powerful people publicly judge women based on their appearance, millions of girls watching can get the message that this is how women are supposed to be judged.

And honestly? Thats screwed up .

So the next time you look in the mirror and suddenly feel like you’re not pretty enough, thin enough, perfect enough, or good enough, stop for a second.

Ask yourself: Who taught me to hate this about myself? Whose standards am I trying to meet? Who benefits from me believing that I’m never enough?

And then remind yourself:

Screw him. Screw these impossible expectations. And screw anyone who thinks women should spend their lives shrinking themselves, fixing themselves, hiding themselves, or apologizing for who they are.

You do not owe the world beauty.

You do not owe anyone perfection.

You do not have to earn the right to feel good in your own skin.

You are allowed to look however the hell you look and take up as much space as you damn well please.