Mariah Carey Says She Suffered From Low Self-Esteem

It's hard to imagine songbird Mariah Carey being anything but glamorous, but in a recent Paper Magazine interview the Grammy winner revealed that even she, as a teenager, suffered from a lack of confidence. "I have had very low self-esteem my whole life," she said. "When I was 12 or 13, I remember walking up the driveway, and this guy who was 20 -- which may have been highly inappropriate -- said to me, 'I like your pants,' and I was like 'Oh, that looks good? Oh, OK, I will wear tight pants now."

Another sore subject for Carey has been her biracial heritage, which consists of an Irish-American mother and Afro-Venezuelan father. The 39-year-old's racially ambiguous features made her stand out while growing up in suburban Long Island, New York, which she still grapples with today. "It still is [an issue]," she said. "Even though it's ridiculous. I mean, we have a biracial president!"

Carey went on to say that despite issues with self-esteem as an adolescent she still feels "eternally 12," and learned to cope with her insecurities by playing up her physical appearance. Although she steers clear of going too much in to detail about some of her hardships growing up, the singer, who eluded to being abused on 'Larry King Live' in November, said that at some point she will tell the whole story. "Something happened to me when I was 12. A couple things that were not so great," she says carefully. "One day I want to write a book about it."