The Bikini Body

My friend and I had a very interesting discussion about the concept of the “bikini body” yesterday, both sharing the concerns about this. Neither of us completely understood the concept of having a bikini body. Products can even be marketed as “bikini friendly”, setting the standard for female bodies during the summer ridiculously high. Turns out that you actually can’t go to the beach without being skinny, because you can’t wear a bikini unless you’re skinny enough or fit enough.

She asked me if I thought it was going to change, if female’s bodies will ever be a hundred percent accepted, even if they don’t fit the current beauty standard. Trying to be optimistic, I answered that I do think so and that I hope that it will, but I think it’ll take a lot of time, and a lot of change in the perspective of men and how they’re viewing women, and how women view themselves.

Men and women will sadly ever be treated the same, because we biologically aren’t the same, and hoping for 100% equality is like hoping for rain in the Sahara desert. Men can’t bear children, and women will never be as physically strong as men, but the fact that women’s bodies will be sexualized every single summer, making the standards higher and higher each year, makes me really sad. It makes me sad that we keep comparing ourselves to other women, who are genetically different from us, with different bone structure and different fat distribution,  and we wonder “why don’t I look like that?”...

The thing is, we can complain about this as much as we want, but unless we actually start doing something about the standards of our bodies (and this goes for men too; not every guy needs to have a six pack and be able to lift 200 lbs just like that), the standard will never change.

Take a step back, and appreciate how you look, appreciate your body. As long as you’re healthy, you have nothing to worry about. You are just as beautiful as everyone around you, never forget that.

I'm not skinny, and I'm not fit, but I'm not going to worry about wearing my bikini, not this year or any other year. I know there are women who are more fit or skinnier than I am, but that's not going to make me question whether I can wear what I want or not.