When I was a young adolescent Twiggy was my idol. About the only thing we had in common was that we shared the same first name although we spelled it differently. I used to study the fashion magazines and she graced every page. Her lavish lashes were penciled in on the bottom of her enormous eyes, mimicking the waif paintings of Margaret Keane. Then there was that gamine haircut which inspired me to wear my hair short after several years of growing it long. She wore a side part with a long sweeping asymmetrical look which came to a little pointy curl at the nape of her neck. Freckles graced her little pug nose and her lips formed a perfect little bow. When I wasn’t immersed in my issues of Vogue, I was in front of the mirror trying to reinvent myself to become the likes of this iconic supermodel. Even though I was not yet allowed to wear make-up, I was missing the most obvious likeness, or lack thereof. She had long, skinny legs. I did not. If it were not for the fact that my mother hated the thickness of her own legs which I thought mine resembled, I would completely blame Twiggy for the disdain I had for my own even shorter version….which brings me to my question; No matter how thin we are, how great a haircut, how perfect the make-up, how famous we are or aren’t, why is it that most women have body parts that they would disown if given the chance to trade them for a better model? Put a group of women together, virtual strangers even, and in fifteen minutes we will know what each one considers their worst feature. I wish I could say this was typical of my demographic only. After all, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Hudson, and Jessica Simpson aren’t exactly “Twiggys”. The role models are a bit fuller and healthier looking and there are Dove commercials to promote self-acceptance but something tells me that as long as there is Photo Shop, the rejection of one’s parts will carry on for generations to come.