When BlogHer asked me to kick off their Letter to My Body campaign back in February, I was excited. Study after study shows that most women living in Western societies are unsatisfied with their bodies. Who can blame us?

We are constantly bombarded with images of the "ideal" woman, an archetype that the majority of women cannot live up to naturally, and that increasingly, even models themselves are unable to achieve without significant airbrushing. Body image is something that I, like many women, have struggled with for years. As usual, the brain trust behind BlogHer came up with an excellent forum for women to express how they feel about their bodies with no judgements.

Since that first post on BlogHer, hundreds of women wrote their own letters to their bodies. As expected, people wrote about their bodies in so many different ways. In response to lainad's call to women of color bloggers to write about their bodies and uterine fibroids, a common condition (she noted that up to 75% of black women have them) that needs more attention, ThatDeborahGirl shared a post from her blog Deb Lite about her experience. Susan "Stop the Madness!" Powter made a video. There was not a dry in the house when Yvonne from Joy Unexpected read her Letter at the BlogHer Community Keynote at the BlogHer Conference in San Francisco this past summer. It was also touching to hear Laurie from Laurie Writes when she read her letter.

Other women, like Xiaolin Mama, wrote about what they love about their bodies. Claire and Magali from 5 Resolutions posted a podcast on positive body image with Jessica Weiner. Reading through the various letters is amazing, and gives me such respect for all the things that women deal with - good and bad - when it comes to our bodies.

In fact, Letters to My Body is so inspirational, it led Capessa to start a Letter to My Body contest! Some quick details:

We want to hear what you have to say to your body, and we want to help you love yourself the way the Letter to My Body campaign helped us...

Leave a comment with a 250-word letter to your body [on Capessa], telling it what it needs to know. (We know, how do you get it all out there in 250 words?!!! You either master being succinct or you excerpt the best 250 words from a longer letter, perhaps one published on a blog. If you're entering an excerpt, PLEASE include a link to your longer letter, since we will want to read it even if it can't count for the contest.)

If you publish your letter on your own blog, please go to BlogHer and add the link using the Mr. Linky tool. This will ensure that all Letters to My Body can be accessed from a single spot. Very handy if you're having one of those days and need a pick me up.

If you've already written a letter to your body for BlogHer's campaign, you can feel free to use it as your entry to this contest or you can write another letter. Totally up to you (and how much free time you have).

All entries must be received by Oct. 15, 2008.

The contest is also being put on with the help of True Body Confessions.

The winner will be able to shower her body with beautiful things thanks to a $500 shopping spree from Zappos.com courtesy of Not Your Daughters Jeans!

When I was in 5th grade, I hid my chubby, developing body in sweatsuits (preferably pastel; preferably with rhinestones; flowery designs optional). Not only has my taste in clothing changed multiple times since then (thank goodness!!!), but so has the shape of my body. Recently, as I tried to find a flattering outfit to wear to an event, I realized that my hips were a little bigger than I remembered and many of my dresses clumped up around them. There were two ways to react: I could cry, or I could take a deep breath and respect that this is what I look like. (I won't lie - I chose both options, starting with crying and moving on to calm acceptance.) Given the situation, I can sure use that shopping spree. I know I have a lot of competition from the rest of you, though, and whatever the outcome, we are all winners.

Suzanne also blogs about life at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants. She is author of a book about unusual things to see and do in New York City (and ate a lot of baked goods as part of her research, a direct cause of the current hip situation), Off the Beaten (Subway) Track, and is seeking submissions for a potential anthology about getting your period at Congratulations, You're a Woman Now!.