Young Man In The Mirror
Illustrated by Sebastian Torres
We all have insecurities.
From my perspective, my legs
are too long, all my pants
too short.
My arms are too skinny,
two Barbie arms glued
onto the body of an 18-year-old
dude. My nose
is crooked,
pointing slightly
right––actually that’s
true, happened from running smack
into another kid.
Why does Kim Kardashian have
the most followers on Instagram?
Why do all men have to be as “buff”
as Dwayne Johnson?
Why “perfection”?
Aren't all our innate shapes and sizes
natural?
Couldn't we shift the question
to how? How
to include? How
to lift up? How to break
the mirror image that lies
to our face?
Comments
Melanie P
January 26, 2020Powerful piece! Everyone has insecurities as you mentioned and it was really brave of you to share yours as well! Everyone has something they wish they could change when they look in the mirror! I liked the part where you had written “Why perfection? Aren’t all our innate shapes and sizes natural?” because it is true! It is not easy especially at the age we are now with the influence of social media making us think that we have to look a certain way or act a certain way. Great work! Thank you for sharing!
George Filipopoulos
August 31, 2020This piece is very well written, and it falls close to home. One thing I’ve always seen is how much men are put down for not all being perfect. Like the you said, “why do all men have to be as buff as Dwayne Johnson?”. The worst part is that it’s not only the physical aspects that men must possess, but also having a good job and a lot of money is something that most of the time is expected from a man. You did a great job highlighting all that and bringing attention to the topic you were writing about.
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