Am I Ugly? -NO NO NO.

     I came across one of the most sickening and horrifying articles on Yahoo. The article went on about this new trend (that I was completely unaware of) called 'Am I Ugly?'. After reading I discovered that this was just as disturbing as it sounded. Apparently this consists of people posting videos of themselves on YouTube and asking people to comment with an opinion on whether they think that the uploader is ugly or not. I told myself that I would not look at any of this, but I curiosity got the best of me. After searching 'Am I Ugly?' I clicked on the fourth video. I was sick to my stomach. A little girl. A LITTLE girl. She couldn't have been more than 12, if that. After watching this absolutely disturbing video where this sweet little girl showed photo after photo of herself posing and hamming it up for the camera. I had the urge to find every video like it and comment, "NO. NO. NO. You are beautiful. You are loved. I'm sorry that you feel so alone that you need to do this, but you are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful." This beautiful little girl said she made this video because "A lot of people call me ugly and I think I am." I could not watch this and not say something. This particular video has over 4 million views and has been on YouTube for about 2 years, but videos like this one are not hard to come by. Apparently in the past two months this trend has exploded and sparked so much talk that it's been featured on talk shows and well known websites.

You are beauty. You don't need others to tell you that.

     What are we doing to each other that it has come this? A young girl feels so bad about herself that she looks for opinions from people that she does not even know. Think about yourself. Are you insecure? Have people called you ugly or maybe even something worse. I know I have been called every name in the book. It's made me feel insecure and sad, but I do not think I would have ever resorted to asking strangers to tell me whether I am beautiful, whether I am worthy of love, and whether I have should feel like a human being.

We've all felt this way.. but why?

     Every person is worthy of love. A person's self-worth is not measured by others. Why do we feel the need to bully each other? Does the bullier feel so insecure about themselves that they feel the need to make someone else feel more insecure than they do? Why? Think about how damaging that is to everyone. Young girls (and boys) learn from experience. They need role models and people to show them that they do need the opinions of others to be a true and loved human being. To those who have been called ugly, gross, disgusting, not pretty, and anything of the sort. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE LOVED. YOU ARE TRULY A HUMAN BEING FULL OF WORTH AND CONFIDENCE. Be yourself. You do not have to prove anything to anyone. You encompass beauty inside and out. You are loved.

Be confident. No one can take that away from you.