This summer, I'm taking a huge step. Like, life changing. Radical. I'm going to stick it to the man, and the woman, and anybody who doesn't like it can bite me.

This summer, I'm going to refuse to hate my body.

In case you weren't aware, (but I suspect you were) this is a huge step for any American woman, because we really are surrounded with the subtle implication that we really aren't good enough.

Well, I say fuck it.

I'm going to ignore the makeup adds that assume I can't be pretty without lipstick. I'm going to ignore the dating columns I posted about a while back that say I can't be happy without a man to tell me I look good. I'm going to ignore fashion magazines, pictures of celebrities, and that girl in my class who thought a size eight was fat. (Fuck you, Sarah. You said that to my face.) I'm even going to ignore the idea that being fat is a bad thing, in terms of beauty. Why can't fat girls be considered pretty? If anyone's telling me to lose weight, it had better be my doctor.

I'm also going to go to the gym regularly, which I've been doing for a while now, because I like feeling strong and dislike being out of breath when I want to run someplace.
I'm going to like my body and that's all there is to it. I know this won't work every day, or even every minute of the days it does work, but so what? I'm going to be happy.
I'm going to dress however I want. I'll wear a short dress without worrying that everyone can see my thighs, and what if my knees are unattractive? I'll wear shirts with no sleeves and stop caring that maybe my arms look fat.

I'm going to learn to like myself, and it's going to be great.