Dear Future President,

The pressures girls face daily put on by society cause a lack of confidence and pride that they have for themselves. Our country needs a leader to show that being the person you truly are is more important than the expectations of others. There is no perfect person in this world and describing a the perfect person is someones opinion. Girls shouldn't need to meet others expectations because every individual is special in their own way.

Our culture and society set high standards and expectations for young girls to meet that are not reachable. We are judged on the way we look rather than our ability to do something. In a woman's magazine, there are 10.5 times more advertisements and articles on how to be thin and lose weight, than there are in a man's. This gives woman the impression that their body or shape isn't good enough. Girls think that if they don't have A's and B's in classes they aren't smart and no matter how hard they work they won't be as good as other girls who are constantly excelling in academics. We think that every test, grade, game, and/or social event will determine how our life ends up, but in reality it's okay to make mistakes because that's how we will later learn to avoid those bad situations. People see the "stereotypical" girl as someone who is weak, over sensitive, emotional, and that they aren't able to do things on their own. Girls start to see themselves this way, and think they have to depend on someone else to do something. Social media makes young girls think that they should spend their time trying to look good instead of working hard to later make a change in the world. We need a role model to put a stop to these ideas that girls need to be perfect, and start showing respect for those who are willing to express their imperfections.

Girls are willing to do anything to be perfect that they start to lose their true self to meet other people's standards. Every morning woman spend an excessive amount of time putting on makeup, doing their hair, and finally picking out the right outfit that other people will like. Girls cover up every blemish and insecurity that they might have with makeup. We do this to fit in because we think it is the only way people will like us, but we shouldn't care what others think and we shouldn't have to look a certain way to be liked. Trying to keep up with everything going on like school, sports, and socializing can tear away at someone. This causes the lack of confidence when someone can't meet the constant demand to be perfect. Some are constantly dieting and not eating as much as they should be so they can look a certain way. We spend so long trying to get the perfect picture to post on social media, and even more time to modify the picture so our skin can look clear and our teeth are bright white. Even through all this work, if we don't get a certain amount of "likes" it's all pointless to girls.  Every where around the world girls feel the pressure, and in response we make adjustments to ourselves to diminish the effects of not being perfect. Being shown by a leader that being confident is better and that we shouldn't change ourselves for other people could help inspire girls at a young age to know that they are naturally amazing.

The pressures on girls to be perfect can cause problems with a young girls health and overall happiness. Trying to keep your grades up and fit in, can cause a lot of stress on a girl in her adolescent years. Anxiety is common in young girls, and I see it in myself and a lot of my friends. We get so worked up over a small quiz because we think if we fail the world will end. This constant supply of stress can cause severe depression making a girl's life even harder then it already has been. When girls see that being super thin is better, they will go to extreme circumstances to be skinny. An example is anorexia or bulimia, these are two eating disorders that many young girls face. If these disorders get out of hand, the person could end up in the hospital or die. I think being successful is being happy and healthy, so if putting pressure on girls does the opposite, then things need to change to prevent these bad situations from existing. 

At a young age, a girl starts to feel the need to stand out just to get even the slightest recognition, but instead everyone should celebrate individual differences. Everyone's desperate ideas of the perfect girl are simply not attainable. A girl would tweak and change every part about herself until there is nothing left. All this, just to be recognized by a boy or to have a teacher like her. Is this all worth it in the end?