Laurie,
If I had listened to my Mom, I would feel great about my body.
I experienced teasing at school for the way I looked and dressed. In fourth grade my hair was cut shorter than many boys after I developed psoriasis. I was subjected to my classmates passing around a poll for class nerd and I got the most votes. I was mistaken for a boy several times. If that wasn't bad enough then a patch of psoriasis was seen one day and a rumor I was diseased maybe even having AIDS was passed around school.
So I looked in the mirror and saw an undesirable leprous stick. And what I thought of me didn't seem to matter so much when I spent my lunch hours alone and ducked spitballs.
In jr high when I felt I was getting away from that, one of my male classmates found it funny to point at me, laugh and nickname me "No breasts".
This has effected how I viewed myself for years. Even today, I can sometimes hear their voices when I look in the mirror. I have to take long breaths...they don't matter.
