Pretty | Teen Ink

Pretty

January 15, 2021
By MadelineMcKenzie BRONZE, Franklin, Wisconsin
MadelineMcKenzie BRONZE, Franklin, Wisconsin
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Diamond encrusted, Golden plated.

“If” is not a question I’ve debated.

I'm going to live big,

Like those girls in those pictures.

I don’t care if the ice melts

Or if the earth has fissures.

I don’t care if all the material I want

Is too much for our earth to take.

Does it look like I'm trying to be a saint?

For heaven's sake!

All I'm trying to be is pretty!

And if I'm not, then I'll change.

Consider my dignity maimed.

I’ll go throw the immense pain

Of my skin being cut and stretched.

But, it will still hurt less

Then being ugly.


It might seem odd to you

That I have this much urgency.

But, for women throughout history,

Beauty has been currency.

So, I'll be damned if I'm not a pretty girl.

I will find a way to get every diamond and pearl.

Exterior, exterior, exterior!

If mine shines bright like the sun,

Will it cause everyone to become blinded?

Will my interior not be sighted?

Will I not have to be reminded

that I am not enough?

Not pretty enough.

Not happy enough.

Not confident enough.


Men will look at me like a glittering trophy.

Not some tired eyed girl who's grumpy and mopey.

On the inside, I'd be broken.

But, that doesn't matter.

I need to fake it till I make it,

If I want to climb up the ladder.

So I’ll just cover myself

With golden chains

And a perfectly blended face

And pray that one day

The inside matches the outside.


I know, I know,

it's a depressing plan.

But, what can I do?

It’s a tale as old as time.

A song as old as rhyme.

The message has now spread across the world.

Prince charming only saves the pretty girls, 

And all girls must be saved.

And, I’m sorry, pardon my deflection,

But, I never got the metaphor 

That the golden ticket was a

1,000 dollar check for a lip injection.

To be honest I’m really tired

Of looking at other girls and thinking

about all the things I want to change about myself.

I’m sick of feeling like I'm not enough.

I’m sick of wanting to be someone else.


Who should I see when I look in the mirror?

A girl who does not need affirmation?

A smart girl with an education?

People like that, right?

But, I should also be the girl

In a tight dress who wants to impress

Everyone she meets.

It's a lot to ask a girl to be.

But, girls have been worth so little for so long,

So, we must do so much more.

So I will be that girl

Whose not so effortless beauty drops jaws.

But, for right now, when I look in the mirror,

All I see are flaws.



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