Over time, that passive, appearance-obsessed state starts to present itself as a mental task list—an ongoing stream of thoughts that remind us to pull up our pants so no belly rolls are visible, cross our legs when sitting in those chairs so our thighs appear thinner, suck our stomachs in, keep our chins up (not in pride, just double-chin patrol), hold our arms away from our bodies to make them look less round, blot our oily faces, and tame unruly hair. Even when we are alone, we body check our appearance in the car mirror, our cell phone camera, or the store window’s reflection, or otherwise
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