Youth

In this world,

being young means being labeled as stupid and reckless,

slut shaming girls who wear shorts and telling rape jokes is OK,

loving someone of the same gender is wrong but discriminating against these people isn’t,

the color of your skin and the race you belong to determines the respect that is given to you,

drinking, doing drugs, and having meaningless sex is the definition of fun,

having double standards for both men and women is normal,

all your past mistakes matter,

wanting gender equality is a big deal but cat calling and slut shaming isn’t,

and not being a size zero means you aren’t beautiful.

Well, let me tell you this. Your age, the clothes you wear, your sexuality, your race, your gender, your past, your beliefs and your body shouldn’t determine the respect you get and it sure as hell shouldn’t be keeping you from loving yourself. You are wonderful and you worth more than everything in this world. Don’t let people and so-called ideals bring you down.