PHOTOGRAPH: LAURA RICHARDSON. *REPORT BY THE PEW RESEARCH CENTER; **W BLEIDORN ET AL, AGE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SELF-ESTEEM – A CROSSCULTURAL WINDOW, ‘JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY’, 2016
Hate. It’s such a violent word. But I’ve felt it towards myself at points. Not for doing wrong, but simply for not being enough; thin enough, successful enough, clever enough, interesting enough, popular enough.
I’ve looked in the mirror and said ‘ugh’. I’ve felt embarrassed of myself in the company of ‘cooler’ people. I’ve believed I’m undeserving of my dreams. In the practice of coaching, there is the theory that thoughts create feelings and, if this is true, it’s no wonder that these feelings of self-loathing and low self-esteem exist within me, as they do in so many of us,* especially women.**