Every year spring break rolls around with women everywhere feeling self-conscious: “How will I look in that bikini next to my hot/skinny/fit/curvy/ friends?” What’s crazy is that everyone is feeling it, no matter their body type, that instinctual need to compare themselves to the women around them. “Ugh I wish I had her butt/stomach/boobs/legs/skin/confidence” No matter what your situation, you’re bound to be feeling it, but why?
If you think all these other women look good in their swimwear, chances are they are comparing themselves to you too. Every time I see someone, of any body type, in a bikini that does justice to their body’s best features, I think “wow, she is working that.” Women come in all shapes and sizes, and I’ve literally never seen another woman in a bikini and thought “wow she should have crash dieted and worked out more to get ready for this.” It sounds absurd, when you think about it, that anyone would ever think that about your body when you aren’t thinking that about anyone else’s body. So why do we do it?
Insecurity is hard to surpass, trust me, I know. I think a lot about how pale I am in comparison to all the tan beauties rocking swimwear, or my stomach, or whatever of the number of insecurities I think about when I see pictures of myself in bathing suits, but, thinking about my own thoughts towards the beautiful bodies of other women, why do I feel so negatively about my own? It isn’t healthy, not in the least.
Take a look at Aerie’s recent “REAL” campaign. They use models of all shapes and sizes to market their swimwear, and yet, they still look awesome, and you still want to buy the suit, because the girls in the ads look good, no matter what they look like. Their confidence shines through everything, and while I’m jealous of that feeling, because I don’t know if it’s something I would ever be able to fully attain, I can see from the images that the best bikini body is just a bright smile.
While I know the erasure of a lifetimes worth of insecurities isn’t as easy as a smile, it’s easy to see how creating a feeling of brightness could help you to feel like those women in the Aerie ads. “How do you get a bikini body?” Workout companies have been trying to answer the question for us women for years, but if your looking for my opinion, that I am trying to hold myself to, a bikini body is putting on a bikini, and if you need to, putting on a show for yourself: a smile, even if you are feeling insecure, can go a long way to making you feel more confident. Time flies away when you’re having fun, and, I hope, insecurity too. Because I promise ladies, we all know you’re killing it. We want you to know it too.
Gifs Courtesy of Giphy