I struggled with self-esteem issues as a young girl, and it was not until my gymnastics career was completed in 2000 that I realized my accomplishments would not have been possible without my type of body, and I finally started to appreciate and celebrate myself.

Dominique Dawes

Accomplishments Appreciate Been Body Career Celebrate Completed Finally Girl Gymnastics Issues Myself Possible Realized Self-Esteem Started Struggled Type Until Without Would Young Young Girl

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I thoroughly enjoy the work I do in helping motivate and empower young girls to celebrate and love their natural selves.

— Dominique Dawes

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That's a problem, when a young girl is looking in the mirror she's seeing a distorted image. That's because of this narrow definition of beauty that's portrayed daily, constantly, on television. She is not seeing the beauty and the strength that we may see.

— Dominique Dawes

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Gymnastics is the greatest sport in the world, and one of the hardest, but we have to watch out for domineering male figures who try to belittle and scream at young girls.

— Dominique Moceanu

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I no longer needed to peel myself of my skin, or to hide. To Dash the colorless ephemeral things that existed just beneath my surface were as vivid as the beauty marks he traced on my cheek.

— Aspen Matis

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Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?