“I’d rather wrestle a bear than look at those books!” was the bookstore clerk’s response when I inquired about their ‘sexuality’ section to do research for my new book. “I don’t look anything like those women!” she added for clarification.

I couldn’t imagine where this woman was coming from. She couldn’t have weighed more than 120 pounds soaking wet. Size six would be my best guess, a size most women would delight to get into. Somewhat confused, I thanked her for her time and selected a few titles to peruse. However, it didn’t take long to figure out where she was coming from. Page after page, book after book, there “she” was.  The perfect woman.  Long hair flowing down … flat tummy untainted by stretch marks or post-pregnancy pounds… slender hips and firm derriere… shapely thighs without a hint of cellulite. Not one unsightly scar, pimple, or spider vein on her whole body. Just one hundred or so pounds of graceful, seductive energy.  I soon found myself preferring to wrestle a bear too. Then I realized I was already wrestling a bear – the body image bear.

If you’re like most women, you’ve allowed that body image bear to invade your marriage bed. USA Today reports that the #1 reason women avoid physical intimacy is… (drum roll, please)… because they felt uncomfortable with how their body looked.[i] Most of us have been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and the video.  And the t-shirt was too small, which fueled our belief that we are simply too fat.

So why are women so hard on themselves, even those who are relatively healthy and look fantastic by most standards? Perhaps it’s because we’ve bought the media’s lie that men want pencil-thin, couldn’t-pinch-an-inch-if-my-life-depended-on-it kind of women. But I want to let you in on a little secret:  Although women may not like their curves, men love them! Listen to what a couple of our male friends said to my husband and me in confidence as I was writing…

“My wife may weigh a bit more than the typical supermodel, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love how she looks, so as long as she’s happy with herself, I’m great.” - Paul, age 37

“My wife’s hips have gotten a little wider through the years, and her breasts may have fallen a little southward since I fell in love with her over thirty years ago. But when I consider the four beautiful children who’ve passed through those hips and nursed at those breasts, I’m more in awe of them than ever. To everyone else, she’s a grandma. To me, she’s a goddess, and I celebrate her presence in my life every day.” - Terry, age 59