The media and its effect on teenage girls' body image

As a teenage girl in the 90s, I remember being absolutely shocked whenever someone would call me pretty. Me? Pretty? I had braces, acne, a flat chest and a stubborn layer of baby fat surrounding my waist. The girls who graced the cover of Seventeen were pretty, but not me. A lot has changed as I now sail through my late 20s. I love my body, my mind and my confidence. But as someone who battled with low self-esteem for years, it really bothers me when I see girls being down on themselves, something that seems to be endlessly perpetuated by the media.

I don't have a daughter but if I did, I think I would do whatever I could to avoid fostering the self-doubt and lack of self-regard I had. So how do we do this? We can't remove the media presence from our children's lives, but we can counteract it, according to this article.

What's your stance of self-esteem and the media? Do you have any suggestions for fostering positive self-esteem?