“This post is part of the 2011 Love Your Body Day Blog Carnival” sponsored by the National Organization for Women.  For 14 years, NOW has been hosting this event to encourage women around the world to reclaim their bodies from the negative images they see very day in the mainstream media.

Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that 80% of U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance?

Women and girls spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, fashion, magazines and diet aids. These industries can’t use negative images to sell their products without our assistance.

Together, we can fight back.

One of the best ways to counter the barrage of unhealthy body images we are bombarded with every day is to share our own stories about how we love, honor and nurture our real, imperfect, awe-inspiring, sexy, scintillating bodies.  So here is my story… Continue reading →