Growing up a girl , especially in Los Angeles, means I have been subject to hundreds of messages about beauty each day of my life. In my hometown, perfect beauty really meant having smooth, tanned skin. Being tall, but not too tall, and willowy, not "athletic." Prefered hair color is blonde, but brown with well placed high lights would do. You should be thin, and delicate looking, small wrists, and ankles, but be strong enough to surf on occasion, just to prove to the boys you can. You should wear makeup, but not a lot of makeup, just enough to look "natural," and "fresh faced." You should wear whatever is trendy, meaning your body type should be on that can support whatever the current fashion trend is. You should wear bikinis, never one pieces, what, are you a prude, or worse, a child? Looking back , I didn't meet a lot of that criteria, and it made me feel bad about myself. I was small and delicate looking, but I had a mouth on me, and di...