I had the honor of attending the Miss Black OU 2006 pageant held in Meacham Auditorium of Oklahoma Memorial Union.

I was amazed to see these nine gorgeous and talented ladies compete to represent the University of Oklahoma on the local, state and (hopefully) national levels.

As these ladies performed, displayed their evening attire and answered their selected question, I began to feel overwhelmed by a very familiar emotion I deal with on a consistent basis. This emotion called insecurity told me I wasn't as beautiful as these ladies. It reminded me of the mental torment I put myself through because I never measured up to society's frivolous standards of beauty.

My "insecurity" invited "comparison," "jealousy" and "low self-esteem" creating a "family reunion" of emotions to join the torment. It stopped when I finally realized that all the contestants, the females in the auditorium, on campus, and on this earth deal with the same emotional distress I was placing on myself.

When Carlisha Williams was crowned "Miss Black OU 2006," I was happy with her win but disappointed in myself. I realized it was time to start dealing with a self-image problem.

March is Women's History Month, and we celebrate the progression and advancement of women throughout history. We praise current successes of women and look forward to future accomplishments.

Though there have been many achievements by women throughout history, the last 25 years have shown women achieve like never before. Women lead corporations, nations and politics. We teach others, manage households, defend for our country and stand up for the right that all women deserve to be successful without discrimination.

Through the blood, sweat and tears of our labor, we've maintained an untouchable style and grace like no other.

Still we haven't seemed to overcome our issues of image and beauty. I realize men experience self-image problems, but to women it is more significant because of ongoing reminders that we're not physically attractive enough.

And who can blame us? Many forms of advertisements tell us how we should or should not look. Even women we perceive as secure can question their own self-images if the media frequently badger them that they are too fat or old. Enhancing oneself to increase their self-confidence is great, but it becomes a problem if it's negative or destructive. So, how does a person, or a society for that matter, deal with these issues?

One major corporation used an unorthodox commercial attempt finding a solution during one of America's most-watched events: the Super Bowl.

Dove, known for their skin and beauty care products, produced a commercial featuring a diverse group of adorable, normal-looking young ladies between the ages of 7 and 16.

Each young lady represented a negative statement about her body image. At the commercial's end, the overall message was to encourage their audience to help banish these negative messages to young ladies while encouraging their beauty and uniqueness.

This is the corporation's second attempt at acknowledging a societal problem in America. Their other advertising campaign, called "Campaign for Beauty," featured adult women of all shapes, ages and races.

Although the campaign was successful throughout 2005, Dove realized these self-image problems didn't start at 26, 39 or 54 years of age. It starts when a young lady thinks she's too fat and uses destructive weight loss methods that later develop anorexia or bulimia.

It starts when getting breast implants on her underdeveloped body will make her think she's beautiful and accepted among their peers. It starts when she's too hurt or broken because her classmates, the media and society tell her she doesn't measure up.

To have strong, confident women like the ones we celebrate during Women's History Month, this issue must be dealt with during childhood, teenage and college years.

Otherwise, the battle is lost. So, I challenge all OU students to praise the strength and beauty of all women in your lives.

Let's create and support programs that destroy negative messages about women while encouraging them to succeed for years to come.

I know if individuals, school organizations and departments on our campus set the standard, we can influence other colleges, the media and our society to change their mindset on how women are viewed in America and the world.

-- Ava Doyle is a journalism sophomore. Her column appears every other Monday, and she can be reached at opinion@oudaily.com.

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