Ah, summer. The season for sunny days, beach trips, and no homework. But for some, this season brings a sense of dread and anxiety. Bikinis can be liberating, but also frightening. In a society where having the perfect body is important, those who feel like they don’t meet these standards have a hard time being as open with their bodies in the hot weather.
I can relate to this personally. In my head, I know my body type is heavily represented in media: petite and skinny. But for some reason I just can’t get over the way I see myself: curvy in the “wrong” places and not curvy in the “right” places. Bikinis are a struggle for me. They’re so cute to wear, but I’m constantly self-conscious of my body being on display for everyone to see. I often find myself sucking in my stomach out of embarrassment.
With thinking like this, it’s easy to consider going on a diet. It’s so tempting to get caught up in the “before” and “after” pictures for diets, and think “well if it worked for him/her, I’ll have the same results,” when in reality those results aren’t always true, and no one’s bodies will react the same to a diet.
Your body does so much for you, and we sometimes forget just how amazing it is. It helps us breathe, eat, laugh, dance, sing, smile, and countless other things that are so important. We all look different and beautiful on the outside, and all bodies are good bodies because they keep us alive and happy.
Your body needs fuel to do all these incredible things, and withholding food isn’t going to help anything. You don’t have to give up the foods you love, you can still eat chocolate cake as long as it’s in moderation. Mix that with exercise and you’ve got a healthy lifestyle set in place.
Even with a healthy lifestyle, it can be difficult to have a healthy mindset. Maybe you’re eating and exercising in a healthy way, but you feel like you still don’t look like any of the people in the media. It can be disheartening, but you have to remember what happens behind the scenes of those photos and videos.
Looking like the models on TV or magazines is an unrealistic standard to hold yourself to; the models themselves don’t even look like that! Photoshop is so prevalent in this industry that literally no one can look like these pictures, not even the people in them. Letting someone on a computer with a fancy editing program dictate how you should look isn’t fair to anyone.
So I have a goal for myself, and I’d like to extend it out to our HC Auburn readers: be proud of your body. It does so much for you, and when you think about everything it does, your body is so cool! No one is made the same way, no one looks the same way, and yet we’re all so beautiful. Stop comparing yourself to others, and start being proud of the body you have.
This summer, I’m going to be happy with the body I’m in. I’m not going to suck in my stomach when I wear a bikini, and I won’t be declining my second piece of birthday cake when I turn 20 for fear of looking bloated. I will give myself a compliment for every time I look at another girl and say “wow I wish I had…” I refuse to let others dictate the way I see my body; it’s mine, and I’m happy with every little bit of it.
Be confident with what you have; no one looks like you. You are one of a kind, and that’s the most beautiful thing about you. Smile, laugh, and dance with freedom this summer; you deserve it.