On May 23, 1979 Diana Ross released an album called ‘The Boss’.  I was mildly obsessed with the cover art. As a young motherless girl, I looked to countless women for clues on how to be and in one particular department Diana delivered. I was 7 years old and the impression she made on me with that photo has lasted to this day and it has served me very well. In that photo she looks confident, bold, and beautiful. And her chest is virtually flat. 

She gave me a very strong, positive impression of being a woman with small breasts. If I knew this at 7 it was pure instinct; I did in fact develop into a young woman with plenty of hips and very small breasts. But I didn’t spend much time feeling ashamed or inferior; I felt fine about my small breasts because of what Diana had shown me in that picture. In that picture, you can clearly see Ms Ross feels good about Ms Ross. And so, I followed suit.

As children we look for role models who embody the qualities we want for ourselves. I wanted to be confident. Confidence is not something you can buy or fake; it is in the eyes, the way one carries oneself. Confidence comes from knowing who you are and what you can do; in a woman in particular, it comes from facing your fears, gaining knowledge through experience and impressing yourself first and foremost. Diana had it, and in that picture, she taught me so much.

There is a beautiful sense of peace and freedom that comes with acceptance of and appreciation for my natural body. I am so thankful that album made its way into my childhood home and thankful I was able to see her beauty so clearly, because she saw it first. 

Thank you Ms Ross. 

Namaste.