..."You've come a long way baby."

...You are a woman. You have made great strides over the past century. You have spent years liberating yourself from your male counterparts. You have staged demonstrations. You have demanded equality...In addition to being a mother, a wife, a sister and a daughter, you are an artist, a singer, a lawyer and a surgeon. You are forever immortalized in mythology, in poetry, in sculpture and in painting.

...Isn't it ironic then, that with all this forward motion, all this smashing of the proverbial glass ceiling, that you come up short in the self esteem department. Shouldn't you be proud of what you've accomplished? Brains are far more important than beauty, yet you argue otherwise.

...So tell me why you use a tabloid to determine your self worth. Tell me why "Oh because she's pretty" is a good reason to like an actress. Tell me why you resolve to lose 5lbs every January but never end up doing it. Tell me why you beat yourself up for not looking like a supermodel. Tell me why magazines are full of equating happiness with weight loss, clear skin, white teeth and picture perfect hair. Tell me why you'd go under the knife in a bid to be 'perfect.' ...You strive to be independent, strong and powerful...a role model and mentor if I may. And then you turn around and sob over your physical flaws. It's those 'flaws' that make you unique.

...You are a woman. You are a doctor, an engineer, a musician and an astronaut. You are an aunt, a niece, a cousin and a grandmother. You are strong, intelligent and full of integrity. And... you are beautiful. You only have to look in the mirror to see it.

- Amita....................