When I was little, I played with Barbie dolls like a lot of other girls my age. I wondered why she was so popular, though, why every little girl wanted one so badly. Now at seventeen, I have come to the realization that people compare perfection to those dolls. Barbie is blonde, skinny, pretty and plastic. She has no feelings or emotions. She can be anything you want her to be. You can play, pose, and dress her up. So is Barbie perfect? What really is perfect? Who sets the standards on what is perfect and what isn't? Should we let go of ourselves and let society decide on how we act and look? We try so hard to be something that is unrealistic. Instead, what we need to understand is that we are all perfect with our imperfections, and that flaws make everybody unique.

The media and society are responsible for the obsession over perfection. People want to be accepted; They want things to be perfect in every aspect of their lives. People who are unhappy aspire to be perfect because they don't want their lives to lack any essential elements. For example, we associate happiness with material things when we really should be focused on ourselves and doing what we can to better our relationships with ourselves and others. The only way we can be happy in a life obsessed with control and superiority is to understand that perfection is not achievable, it is only something that we should use as a guideline and to strive for our best. 

The standards that I set for myself will never be reached. I don't think I'm being negative, just realistic. Therefore, my idea of perfection is having flaws. I enjoy being imperfect; I'm stubborn, moody at times, and overly self conscious. I get nervous easily and I'm sarcastic; I cannot dance or play sports; my waist is not a size zero, and my skin is as white as snow. But these flaws are the little things about me that make me stand out from everyone else. 


And even though I have flaws there are things that I genuinely like about myself. I enjoy laughing and smiling a lot, I try to give advice when needed, and I am a good listener. Even though I am not athletic, I excel in music. I can identify the good qualities in myself to stay positive. I have accomplished self love and self acceptance and have realized that perfection is only a goal to be worked toward and not to be succeeded. I can accept that nobody else is perfect, not even Barbie. I can overcome the fact that I am not perfect, and do not ever want to be. I can stand out from the crowd and be different.