Self-Esteem Issues: A Short Story

I did not grasp that I was physically bigger than my classmates until they started bullying me. I was in the fifth grade and I had these chunky red Timbaland boots on and it was raining very hard. Suddenly, we heard a crack of thunder and my next door neighbor looked at me and said “Reina, did you take a step?” Ever since then all the kids in school called me Earthquake until the sixth grade. Unfortunately, the same boy and I were in the same class until ninth grade. Every year he bullied me until I was strong enough to stand up for myself. I still have no idea why he decided to bully me out of all the other students in our class, but he has forever shaped my life lens.
I struggled with self-esteem issues, since the beginning of time. In my family, I was the smart one and my sister was the pretty one. I rejected all sense of fashion, mainly because I couldn’t fit anything my pairs were wearing. I was too big. In my eyes, beauty was a thin, chocolate woman who also had curves, long healthy hair, and if she was outstandingly beautiful colored eyes. I only meet one of those criteria, having chocolate skin. But, according to society having dark skin was not beautiful either. So, I was not pretty too anyone but my mother. In the media, both then and today, in order to be …show more content…
Africans, and African-Americans alike are beautiful. Every. Single. One. Its ridiculous that according to society, we are ugly and inferior but other cultures spend thousands of dollars to try to look like us. Liposuction, Brazilian Butt Lifts, Breast Enhancements, Lip Injections, and so on and so forth. These are things that we are naturally born with but are deemed ugly on us but beautiful on other cultures. This concept is something I will never understand. Cultural Appropriation is a concept that I will not truly understand. Instead of stealing elements from an oppressed culture why not appreciate them and admit they are