WHO SAYS?

You made me insecure,
Told me I wasn't good enough.
But who are you to judge
When you're a diamond in the rough.
I'm sure you got some things
You'd like to change about yourself.
Who says?
Who says you're not perfect?
Who says you're not worth it?
Who says you're the only one that's heard it?
Trust me,
That's the price of beauty.
Who says you're not pretty?
Who says you're not beautiful?
Who says?

These lyrics are taken from Selena Gomez's new CD, When the Sun Goes Down. This song is called Who Says. I've always been a Disney fan. I've never been ashamed of it either. When this song came out for the first time, I really loved the lyrics. Sure, the music is bouncy and catchy, but the lyrics really stuck out to me. I'm turning eighteen in less then two months and have rarely ever felt beautiful. I don't blame my insecurity on anyone. Although, i do believe that society has a huge role in it.

Society says that to be beautiful you have to be skinny, blonde, tall, blue eyed, and have long hair. Your makeup has to be flawless 24 hours every day, your outfits have to be clean and great looking, and your eye lashes have to be long and curly. Society told me I have to look Goddess looking from every angle.

Growing up, I never was really girly. When i looked in the mirror, I always thought I looked like a boy. When I went to camp the summer of my 7th grade year, I had never felt so ugly. All the girls had started their periods and wore makeup. I can just remember thinking, "what's wrong with me". From that point on, eye liner had become my best friend and I wanted to look more girly. I started dressing a bit more flirty also. I started to feel pretty and all around better.

My confidence hit a total boost when I started dating Tyler. He called me beautiful, gorgeous, ect. When a girl is surrounded by words that complement her, she is bound to feel good about herself. So sure, I did feel good. We started dating the end of my sophomore year, so I would say around then, i could finally feel beautiful and not be afraid.

The middle of my Juinor year, I got personally contacted by a modeling agency. Two actually. I am still not sure how they found my name, but that never really did matter. I told around four of my "best" friends the news. I was super excited and I thought I could do it. Tyler was all on board and wanted to set up my portfolio with pictures that he had taken of me (since he's a photographer and all heh). With in a week, half of the school had found out the news. Some how some way, a "best" friend had betrayed me. It didn't matter who it was because I was honestly on cloud nine. I was beautiful until girls decided to bring me down. They wrote mean, hurtful words on my facebook wall and through my formspring account. Calling me "fat", "ugly", "acne scarred", "bad boned", and sooooo much more. They even would say things at school, to my face. It didn't bother me at first because I thought they were just jealous. My real friends told me that it would pass and I should still pursue the modeling. Although, the horrendous words did not stop for weeks on end.

In the long run, I ended up declining the modeling offers. And I will say it was because I did not think i was beautiful enough for the job. I didn't think I society's standards.

After hearing this song by Gomez, I feel better. All the lyrics are 100% true. I am beautiful and NO ONE is going to bring me down.

I'm no beauty queen, I'm just beautiful me.