What Are You Passing Along? (And No, We are Not Talking About Genetics) (cont'd)

When I found out I was bringing a baby girl into the world, I had a new incentive to work on completely loving myself- my body image included. And post-delivery, I felt this overwhelming need to not only accept my body as it was- which included a tummy pouch that didn't exist before- but to also celebrate it as a vehicle that had sustained and brought forth life. And with a little girl to raise, I wanted to be able to teach her, not through lip service but through actions and behavior, that a woman is more than just a body to look at and more than just a childbearing tool. I'm learning to look in the mirror, and not just see my body, but know my mind, be conscious of my actions, and love myself on a level that goes beyond the mere physical.

And I'm calling on all mothers to do the same. Right now, in America, we are raising a generation of girls who identify themselves more strongly through their physical characteristics than through their talents, abilities, unique personalities, inner beauty and achievements. And we are raising a generation of boys who are learning that a woman's value in our society is most measurable by how the woman looks- not who the woman is. And the trailblazers in the revolution to turn that around are moms.

As the nurturers of our culture, we must accept the challenge and responsibility of finally dumping the emotional trash that has led many of us down a road of self-loathing- if we do not, our daughters are doomed to adopt the insecurities that we have developed. When we are overly self-critical, allow our self-esteem to be directly proportionate to whether or not we match an airbrushed fantasy and hand over our power for something as minute as the size and shape of our physical bodies, we are spoon-feeding our daughters the ingredients of low self-esteem. This creates the foundation for a very unstable home of inner-self that typically leads to eating disorders, self-mutilation, enduring abusive relationships with intimate partners, self-hatred, a lack of self-confidence and the inability to stand in the truth of the human experience. And that truth expands far beyond even the largest waistlines or the most out-of-shape bodies.

If our daughters and sons see us looking at ourselves in the mirror and judging ourselves based on what we see, and hating ourselves for what we see, they will believe this is not only acceptable, but normal. Our daughters will be forced to endure the inner-struggle that comes with low self-worth that many of us have been or continue to be slave to- and, that is often rooted in the numbers on the scale and the image in the mirror. Our sons will be attracted to women who have fallen prey to low self-worth, perpetuate it with what they've learned from their mothers, and both men and women will continue to pass along these sick expectations to their daughters and sons.

We must make the change today, here and now. Because every day that we don't change our negative perceptions of self, or eliminate the behavior of measuring how we value ourselves based on our physical characteristics, we are adding another brick to the house of emotional insecurity that will become our children's severely damaged inner-framework.

As moms, we must celebrate our humanness and imperfections by embracing all of who we are, so that our babies can grow up to embrace all of who they are and lead more fulfilling and productive lives.

Holly Rodriguez is a mom and card-carrying member of the Goddess Only Club, She is also an editor at Innsbrook Today Magazine, a business publication out of Richmond, VA.