Preparing for Swimsuit Season

It has been really warm the past few days, and the sun that is taking much of the chill out of the air has been a constant reminder that spring is coming. I've started daydreaming about sandals, pools, and browning in the sun. And, because I'm a woman who has been surrounded by a body-obsessed culture my entire life, thoughts of swimsuit season have come creeping in my head.

Warmer weather in general makes it a lot harder to hide the things about our bodies that we dislike. Pants, boots, sweaters, scarves, and hoodies make it all too easy to drown our insecurities in a sea of wool, and feel fine eating Nutella from the jar because, who cares? (Which, by the way, no judgement there. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.)

Spring and summer means new, brighter, more revealing clothing coming into the stores, and People Magazine's horrific "Beach Bodies Edition," which could basically be called "People's Body Shaming Edition." All the women's magazines will be full of bikini boot camps and juice fasts to prepare our unsuspecting bodies for swimsuit season. While the change of seasons can be a great motivator to get healthy and treat yourself right, and the warmer weather makes it easier to be active and eat healthy, it can be psychologically and emotionally damaging to put so much pressure on ourselves to become thin before summer. Especially because the culturally constructed ideal beach body is not a healthy way to be for most women in the world.

I read this lovely blog post a few months ago, and knew I wanted to share it (contains some profanity). The only requirements for wearing a bathing suit are 1) having a body and 2) putting a bathing suit on it. Dress for yourself. Dress to feel good and happy and comfortable. I could care less what People Magazine or anyone else thinks about my beach body. As I've mentioned before, I finally decided last year to stop wearing shorts over my swimsuit when I go to the beach, and even though I felt insecure for the first few minutes, it didn't take long at all until I felt happy, confident, and beautiful without my shorts (security blanket). I'll wear what I want and love myself, too. We deserve so much more than to regard our bodies with shame, hatred, or insecurity. Life is to be lived and enjoyed! So this year, when you start thinking about swimsuit season, I hope you can approach it with excitement and self-love. You have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. You are beautiful, powerful, and deserve to live life to the fullest. I know I intend to!