53% of 13-year old girls say they are unhappy with their bodies.

Self-confidence
should be more
so much more
than the number of likes
you can count,
the number of ribs
you can count.

"I look nice today"
shouldn't be taboo.
You look nice every day,
we've been trying to tell you.

Who said confidence is
all about looks?
You're good at sports,
you read lots of books!
You can make your friends laugh,
you can dance, you can sing;
there's a whole world before you -
you can do anything!

at what age does it click
I can't see my hip -
bone on skin:
I'm not thin
enough for them;
who? the boys?
the big-mean-girls?
do they define you
in this world?

When you were a little girl,
is this who you wanted to be?
Dressed in short skirts,
obsessed with s k i n n y ?
Did you say yes?
Is it cool to be depressed?
Are you content with this
pain, is it glamorous?

Beauty isn't how you look
in the eyes of those who took
your right to say,
"I look nice today,
and I don't give a damn
what you say!"

Unhealthy and ashamed aren't
pretty or cool;
you are more than the pricks
who go to your school.
You are beauty and blissful and real radiance;
strive for happy and hopeful, because
that's self-confidence.