We live in a time where our beauty is measured by the size of our waists. A time where people would rather starve themselves, than learn to tolerate their bodies. A time where it is abnormal to love ourselves. Why is that? Jenny shares her story of learning to accept her body in “Numbers on a Scale.” Jenny tells the reader about when her aunt fat-shamed her, telling Jenny she needed to lose some weight to “look good”. After this harrowing experience she had set a strict diet for herself. Her aunt wasn’t looking out for her “health”, she was catering to society’s expectations on what a woman is supposed to look like. It’s so typical for higher value to be placed upon appearance, than on personality. It’s absolutely bewildering. An individual's weight should not be able to define them as a person, or determine their worth, but somehow it does.

For some absurd reason, so many people have this mental pedestal embedded into their brains, idolizing this unrealistic “perfect” body that they’re supposed to conform to. There’s this pressure, especially on women, to fit certain standards to be considered “beautiful”. Women are constantly shamed for being fat. However, they’re also shamed for being skinny. They can’t ever win. When I look in the mirror, all I see are my flaws. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been ashamed of my body. Lingering insecurities haunt my mind whenever I see myself, but I’m working on it. No woman, no man, no human should ever be apologetic of their bodies, because everybody’s bodies work differently. As cliche as it sounds, every single body is beautiful in its own way. I wish more people understood that.