These days the media has become highly influential in shaping how people find others attractive. One side of this phenomenon has been the creation of a skewed perspective of what the female mate must look like. This ideal is causing many women to have increasingly low self esteem and become obsessed with the way they look. This unhealthy mindset is also being force fed to younger and younger generations, which in turn prevents girls from focusing on building up other personality traits that would lead to a good self perception. Another aspect of the effect the media has on women is the fact that they no longer feel satisfied knowing one man thinks they are beautiful. Women now need acceptance in a public and popular arena in order to gain self esteem. All this in turn affects the way men perceive women and how both sexes interact. Yet I do feel that through art there is a way to change an aspect of this cycle by portraying in my work how women feel about their own bodies. In order to do this I use women that surround me on a daily basis that either have a unique appearance not often seen in mass media or those that have voiced the fact that they have insecurities about their appearances that have affected their lives and self-esteems negatively. I not only use these women as models in my paintings, but also strive to portray their insecurities in a way that many women can relate to while still showing the fact that they are truly beautiful. Another aspect of my artwork is the presence of mothers and daughters. This helps to portray

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