Why the legs article makes me angry

Or, a follow-up to this morning's post, specifically to this bull$hit. In light of Kate Fridkis's piece on what she wants for her unborn daughter. She wants her to not agonize over her body and her "flaws." Don't we all want that for our daughters and ourselves? That's a rhetorical question, coming from me, because obviously my own mother likes to make sure that I agonize over my body. But that's not what I would want for my daughters or for any other human being. And it's hard to achieve that--the not agonizing--when you've got people who profit from convincing you that there's something wrong with your legs, or anything else.

I can't fathom the self-hatred or other motivating factors of someone who would risk their functional, god-given limbs to achieve some bullshit standard of attractiveness. First of all, who do they think is looking at their legs or butts? Second, surgery is serious stuff; save it for when it's medically necessary. Third--I know this is easier said than done, but like I said, I've survived my mom's best efforts to the contrary--love your body. Tweaking it surgically is not going to change how you feel about yourself. There will always be something. This isn't the first or second or third time I've ranted or rambled about it, but I just can't get over it. I do believe it's up to us to overcome our body issues, but I wish the forces that would profit from cultivating our insecurities would give it a rest. Body hatred is a circle of hell that I've managed to avoid, but only just; it saddens me that so many other women are mired in it. It's just not worth it.