Janet Jackson: "My Brothers Would Call Me Nicknames Like 'Cow' 'Horse' 'Pig'"

When I hear Janet Jackson make comments about the self esteem issues she had as a child, I just find it soooo hard to believe! A woman as gorgeous as her once felt "ugly", "fat", etc.? Nawwwwww! How could she?

My JJ opened up to TODAY show host Meredith Vieira in an interview about how she negatively perceived herself growing up, and how her brothers added to her low self esteem by calling her names:

"I would literally bang my head up against the wall because I didn't feel attractive. ... There was a lot of pain in my life. But I did. I felt very unattractive. I still have issues with it. I don't bang my head up against the wall, but I still have those moments.  And I think it'll probably continue but at least I know how to deal with it now. And I'm in a much better space."

The issues Jackson had might stem back to how she was treated by her brothers, including Michael, who had nicknames for her like "Horse, pig, cow, slaughter-hog," she said."

"It makes you laugh, it really does. It makes you laugh. I guess some people could say, 'Oh that's, you know, brothers and sisters joking, it's all affection, it's all, you know, it's in a loving way.' But not everybody can brush it off, and I was one of those," she said.

In the interview, Jackson also opens up about her father Joe, saying she wasn't to ever call him dad. "He said, 'I'm Joseph to you.  You do not call me dad.' That affects you as a kid ... I know my father loves me. He just has a very, very different way of showing it."

Parents, PLEASE love your children! That's all they ever want, especially when growing up. And fathers, I can't stress the importance of being in your daughter's lives. You are the first and most important relationship that she will have with the opposite sex!