why do we always feel self conscious?

   "Of all the judgement we pass in life, none is more important than the judgement we pass on ourselves" -   Nathaniel Brandon

I observe some fs the plus size goddesses I know interacting with their thinner friends and they suddenly become shrinking violets.  They don't dominate the conversation, they try to fade into the background and it is clear they feel self conscious.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  Why do we feel so unworthy of being the center of attention? 
I think we have been bombarded by so many images on t.v. and in the print media that we feel we are less worthy of being the center of attention than the thinner women in the world.  This is so wrong, especially since the avrage size of a woman in North America today is a 14. There are as many women in America today that are a size 18 as there are a size 8!  Why should we allow ourselves to feel inferior?  We are fabulous women with alot to offer.
I talked to some of my shrinking violets about this and the reaction was "Oh, I could never allow myself to be the center of attention! Everyone would be staring at me and making judgements . They would all be thinking 'she's so fat'. I can't handle that".
I think they are judging themselves harder than anyone else would. In truth, other people don't even think about things like that as much as you do. We all need to appreciate ourselves for the goddesses we are and stop worrying about what other people think. Trust me, it's very liberating.