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Actress and activist Catherine Bach interviews Katherine Schwarzenegger about her book, "Rock What You've Got", a tell-tale and advice giver that promotes inner beauty and self-esteem.
Catherine Bach:
Well she has always been incredible but she has done something super incredible for all young women and I am so proud of her and I am so thrilled about this book that she has written. It’s called “Rock What You’ve Got’” and Katherine, what’s your book about?
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
It’s a book that’s about body image but it talks about all of my high school experiences with pressures from your friends, pressures from your parents, your school, how to deal with your parents, boyfriends, girls being mean, it really talks about everything and I really put all of my experiences into the book.
I put tips in there for moms; I have a huge amount in there that’s for moms only because I talk about how important it is to have a strong relationship between mother and daughter which, you know, you have with your girls. So I think that that’s really the key to having a healthy daughter and having a trusting relationship that’s open.
Catherine Bach:
What do you think is something that mothers can do to empower their daughters?
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
Yeah, well I think that mothers first of all can build their daughters up. I have seen so many moms who tear their daughters down and I think that moms are competitive with their daughters and I don’t think there’s enough of that in America today with building your daughter up, telling her she is beautiful, telling her she is smart, telling her she is the best person ever. My mom always did that with me and I know a lot of young girls think that, “Oh you are mom, you have to say that,” but I think it’s really important to keep reinforcing to them positive things because women are so hard on themselves, and young girls too. So just positive reinforcement I think is the most important thing.
Catherine Bach:
And what do you feel about the marketing of women’s fashion and makeup and all things women and advertising. I am just curious.
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
I mean I think the media obviously has a huge impact on putting images out there for young girls and you know right now they put images of thin, beautiful people who look flawless and young girls are bombarded with those images and think that that’s what they need to look like every single day in order to be considered beautiful.
So I think the media has a huge responsibility and until they change what they consider beautiful and start showing girls that real beauty needs to be celebrated then young girls will continue to have to suffer under the pressure that the media puts on them to be someone that they are not.
Catherine Bach:
And I think by real beauty you are talking about accomplishment, inner beauty, spiritual beauty, emotional beauty and that will manifest itself physical.
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
Yeah, definitely; I talk a lot about inner beauty. You can’t have outer beauty unless you have inner beauty and that’s what I think young girls think that if you are beautiful on the outside you must have everything. You must have most perfect life ever, but I think it’s important for young girls to know that you have to work on the inside. You can’t just pamper yourself on the outside. You need to do a lot of soul-searching, you need to do a lot of inner work in order to be a beautiful person.
Catherine Bach:
Absolutely, and I just think what’s so important about this book is, again, that it’s not written by a doctor; it’s not written by somebody that… it’s written by somebody who has been in the eye of the storm recently and is still in the eye of the storm.
She is a very young woman who, talking about an adolescence that she just passed a year ago, and no, really it’s so amazing because she is in the center of the storm and written this very, very lucid book and I advise everybody to get this book. If you have a daughter, if you want to empower your daughter and help her, I just can’t say enough about this book and you all know where I came from. I could have written this book but I didn’t have…
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
I know, we relate.
Catherine Bach:
I know I really relate to this book on so many levels and I think it’s so important and body image and self-esteem I think is the sickness of now with young women. So many people feel bad about themselves.
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
No I think that, yeah, everyone feels bad about themselves and I talk about my experience in high school where I felt awful about myself. I mean I would go on every stat diet, everything that was in the magazines that celebrities were doing I tried because I thought that I had to be a size zero in order to be considered beautiful and when I got to college I really realized, I looked back on my high school experience and realized how much time I had really wasted on trying to be someone that I wasn’t and trying to fit into a size that I wasn’t.
I mean I have boobs. I have a butt. I have hips and you know, why not embrace that instead of trying to get rid of it? So I really learned that after college but you know there’s a huge amount of suffering among young women today so it’s definitely there.
Catherine Bach:
Well I think this book is a huge, huge step towards healing that and again, Katherine Schwarzenegger wrote “Rock What You’ve Got” and it’s just so important and I know sounds like we are hawking your book but I think it’s more than that. Really, I want that message to get out there because it is just the greatest message for so many women and I think if people could relax about how they feel about themselves and not be so tough on themselves they would get so much more done and lead such a happier life.
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
Yeah, no I think it specially is women. I mean you could talk to any women. If you are women you know that when you look in the mirror the first thing you do is say what you hate about yourself. I wish I had thinner legs. I wish I had thinner arms. I wish I could change my hair, my face, you know we always criticize ourselves.
But my dad told me a really important thing which is to look at your glass half full rather than half empty and you know he always told me Katherine, look in the mirror and build yourself up. Tell yourself you are beautiful, you are smart, you have tons of friends. My mom always did exercises with me on the ways to do that with me and I had times where I felt awful about myself and I am sure most girls, I am sure that your girls have probably felt that way too but it doesn’t matter what you look like or what your parents say but you have time to comparing yourselves to other girls in your class and you feel less than them.
So I think it’s important to just build yourself up, say positive things, you are beautiful. You have tons of friends. You are great and giving back to your community. You are good in whatever subjects you are good at and things like that I think are great.
Catherine Bach:
You know, I always tell my daughters you are what you think, you are what you eat – definitely, but you also are what you think and I think this book is a great, great testament to addressing those problems and those issues and coming through the fire and I am so proud of you Katherine.
Katherine Schwarzenegger:
Thank you. Thank you so much and I love you and I admire you so much. I mean you are amazing. She is an amazing woman people, everything about her is amazing. She is beautiful – beautiful inside and out, which is the most important.
Catherine Bach:
Well on that note, bye for now.
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