Self image is a sticky issues...made worse by the media's insistance that I need bigger breasts, paler skin, freckle removal, abdominal flattening, and serious dieting...

I live in an Asian county, where I am assailed by television and newspaper advertisements that  constant highlight my flaws.

I am a woman. Hence, according to these advertisements, I am supposed to be obsessed (not just concerned) with the size of my bust, my figure, the paleness of my skin, and my BMI (body mass index).

Maybe that's why I don't quite fit in here.

My bust is...well, it just is. For whose benefit would I even consider enlarging it? I do not oggle at other woman's chests when I am out and about (although the advertisements seem to insist all women do) and compare mine to hers. They are in proportion to the rest of me.

My figure...I'm a New Zealand size 12, which I consider pretty good. I'm not skin and bone and I'm not obese.

I have freckles. So what. Why on earth would I consider bleaching my skin or piling on skin whitening cream in order to make them go away or hide them? They are a part of me, and I am not ashamed of them. I also do not believe that anyone should hide in the shadows incase some sunlight dares to give them a tan.

The point of all this is to get one message across. We are perfect as we are and we should stop trying to live up to some image created by a vain, materialistic person. (The most stupid thing would be if the image had actually been decided upon by a man!)

I have not once seen an advertisement encouraging men to have a 'manhood' enlargement. How would the men feel if suddenly the television and newspapers were plastered with advertisements that made them feel inadequate?

How come only the women are told to have their breasts enlarged, their body shrunk, their skin whitened, and their BMI dragged into the anorexic zone?

Why are people made to feel inadequate?

Even children are pushed, propelled and driven to study study study so that they can be an 'A' scoring student, because anything less is not considered to be good enough. They are afraid of failing before they have even begun to live.

We have bred a society that looks for faults, that looks for things to criticize, when we should have done the opposite

When are people going to be encouraged to be happy with who they are?

When is the media going to stop making people feel as if they are not good enough?

When is the media going to start praising the human spirit? When we start showing some human spirit!

When are we all going to stand up in the morning, look in the mirror and say "I am happy being me! I LOVE being me!"