I remember watching Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman as Rocky on the Disney channel show, Shake it Up. I even watched her progress onto starring in many Disney movies and currently playing main character, K.C., in Disney's hit show K.C. Undercover. However, Zendaya's role has become much greater in society with the release of a collage of two images taken from a photo shoot on her instagram page. On the left hand side, there was an edited version of her and on the right hand side, the original.

In the the original photo on the right hand side, she is seen in a pose with her arm out, head lifted to the sky, and body in a slanted position. She wears a black jacket and what seems to be black underwear. In the edited photo, her outfit and position are alike but Zendaya’s thighs and hips seem to have magically disappeared! Except...this isn't magic, this is the harsh reality. Here's Zendaya's response to the "perfect body":

"Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Anyone who knows who I am knows I stand for honest and pure self love. So I took it upon myself to release the real pic (right side) and I love it. Thank you @modelistemagazine for pulling down the images and fixing this retouch issue."

Personally, I love how sophisticatedly Zendaya handed this situation. She chose to stay true to her standards despite the attempts of society to literally compress her authentic self. Once I saw this picture, it just made me wonder about how many models this has already been done to. Today, models with flat stomachs, skinny limbs, and hour glass hips is all girls see. But here, we clearly see that the media not only manipulates our self image, but the models themselves. In addition, many girls my age are afraid of posting their summer pics of them in their bathing suits (or any pics for that matter) for fear of being criticized for their bodies. But if we've learned anything from what Zendaya has done in this circumstance, it's about accepting whatever body type you have instead of feeling shameful of it.

If you're feeling insecure about your body type, just know that God has created you just how you are supposed to be. The way you are built is already perfect and doesn't need to be altered to fit anyone's standards. The steps to becoming comfortable with how you look is first having an open heart and mind to accept yourself. You are beautiful and deserve to be loved for who you are.