Be Yourself

I can see your accusing eyes

I can hear your insults behind my back

Don’t you know the world is telling you lies?

They’re telling you that I’m fat

They’re telling you that you’re not good enough

They’re telling you to wear your hair long

That to be sexy you need to own a thong

That you’ll hear a way to find love in this song

That if you buy this your troubles will be gone

And it’s all lies

Look into my eyes and tell me what you really feel

Deep inside, they ate away at you

Played their games with you

Now they’re done with you

Oh but they came back for you

And you don’t know what to do

They tell you to eat this pill

Then you’ll be skinny, like the stars,

And you’ll meet men with fancy cars,

And your life will be complete but guess what,

I don’t need your diet pills, your stupid body image ideals,

I don’t believe that to be pretty you need to be thin,

Because that kind of thinking makes your life a mess

Slim doesn’t mean always mean success,

You give us your “real women” fashion spreads,

And do an article occasionally on the plus size revolution,

But there doesn’t seem to be a solution,

People keep dying, dying because of you,

Families keep crying, crying because of you,

You made her feel ugly,

You made her feel fat,

You made her feel worthless,

Guilty now? Well, that’s too bad because,

She died because of you,

He died because of you,

You project these images onto the youth,

These poreless, perfect, tall, slim,

Never short or fat, just thin,

People with their perfect skin,

And then when we feel bad, you show us,

Plastic surgery ads and tell us,

To go under the knife,

Because that leads to a better life,

And having fat sucked out of your legs,

And needles of poison in your forehead,

Will help the world take you seriously,

Because to be anyone, you have to be beautiful,

To be loved, you have to be beautiful,

To be different is not to be beautiful,

You tell us to blend in, to be like the rest,

To put silicon implants in our breasts,

To pout our lips and stick out our chests,

And to that, I say no,

I say fuck that and just go,

And be yourself, be different, be weird,

Be quirky, be odd, be loved or be feared and don’t you,

Ever think that you’ll never be loved,

Or that you’re not good enough,

Or that having curves isn’t good,

Or that real girls need boobs,

And real boys like girls,

And real girls like boys,

And just try and find your voice,

In all the noise,

Among the shouting and the screaming,

And the fakeness and the cheating,

And just know that you’re the real one,

It doesn’t matter what you look like,

How much you weigh or,

The state of your love life,

Who you kiss and who you like,

Whether you have a social life,

Or if you’re black or white,

Because there’ll always be someone to love you,

There’ll always be someone that needs you,

And you’ll always be beautiful to someone,

So what if you like girls?

So what if you like boys?

So what if you just don’t know yet?

The stereotypes may haunt you but,

There’s no need to conform to them,

And if you want to wear those shoes with that,

Sequined red plaid jumpsuit then just do it,

Stop caring about what’s classically pretty,

Make your own version of pretty,

Redefine pretty,

Underline pretty,

With a highlighter pen, and rewrite it,

Ignore the laughs and you know what’s cool?

Marching to the beat of your own drum,

So let’s all march on down to the beats of our own drums,

And most of all,

Don’t give a fuck.

Be yourself.

That’s all I have to say.