Image.

I must first begin by saying you should read my brother-blogger (and real-life pseudo-brother), Matt's stuff.  He puts an interesting spin on things...he will always cause controversy and give you something to think about.  Follow him at http://wholedamnstreet.blogspot.com/.

I have quite a bit I could talk about today...but I think I will focus on something that's not exactly about my day or how I am feeling or some ridiculous anecdote from my day, but rather something I have been doing a lot of thinking about lately: women's image, particularly body image.

I have been on a diet for a week and a half now, and I have lost that excess weight that I used to obsess over.  I mainly did it as a way to feel better about myself, but also in light of my surgery coming up and having to be basically sedentary for a while...I figured it might behoove me.  Anyway, in conjunction with the diet, I am reading the book that we bought to aid us.  While all of the recipes and advice from the doctor are fantastic and obviously work, I am troubled by the stories in it--stories from real women who hate their bodies.  I am the first to admit that I am very skilled at finding my flaws, no matter how small, but it blows my mind that these women absolutely HATE who they are.  It saddens me and I think it is a product of a larger problem--the pursuit of body perfection in society.  I could be generic and say that it's because of the standards that Hollywood sets, that being a size 00 is the only way to be if you want to be attractive or "hot", and that along with 00 come DD boobs, of course.  It doesn't work like this in real life (unless, of course, you have mucho dinero to spend on enhancement).  Young girls are basically groomed to hate their bodies from the time they realize that they have bodies.  TV shows like "Toddlers in Tiaras" perpetuate the problem, showing the young generation that they have to have a face full of makeup and be wearing skimpy bathing suits to feel beautiful.  What a bunch of bologna.  Girls see their mothers obsessing over their weight and they grow up thinking that's normal.  It's not.  How about a time where women simply accept who they are, and are good with it, as long as they are healthy.  Every woman is beautiful, regardless of size, and we should be able to realize this.  We need to break the cycle of body-hating and love who we are.  I would venture to say we would all be a lot happier if we did this.

Goodness, I love getting stuff like this off of my chest.