Sex advice: ’Being naked makes me uptight with him’

READER: I feel very uncomfortable being naked and it makes me feel very awkward about sex. 

I think about the way I look all the time and sometimes I refuse to have sex because I feel so self-conscious. Certain positions are a no-no because they make my large stomach look so ugly. Because I am always thinking about how I look, I never really enjoy sex. My boyfriend doesn’t know how insecure I am because I have kept it from him and I think he just thinks that I am uptight, or have a low libido. How can I resolve my body-image problems without losing my relationship?

SUZI GODSON: BODY image is a powerful self-construct. It defines how we think, feel, and behave relative to our physical attributes. However, in recent years, negative body image has become so widespread that it is now considered to be a “normative discontent” in Western societies.