Am I Supposed to Look Like This?

I remember when I was little, playing with Barbies and Bratz and thinking that one day I would look like them, or all the women on TV. I would draw myself: "Jessica at 17" or "Me at 25". I'd have a tiny waist and huge boobs and perfect hair and makeup. And when I hit puberty and started actually "becoming" a woman, I would get frustrated. Because I didn't look how I was supposed to.

I think that's why we have so many girls/women today who are unable to see themselves as adults and take responsibility for their actions: they think the way that I did. That once I had a tiny waist and huge boobs and perfect hair and makeup, I'd be a grown-up. I'd be mature and ready to face the world. So until that happens, I'm still a kid, right?

This is how I look today; how I look most days. And it's not
the way the media usually portrays women, but it's pretty
dang realistic if you ask me.

We need more "real" women in the media, more realistic dolls, more believable figures for our sisters and nieces and daughters to look up to. So that girls don't sit around at 25 thinking they're not ready to be adults yet, because they don't look the way the media has made us believe a grown woman looks.