I’m sure over spring break you have seen heaps of photos on every social media platform of women in their swimsuits having the time of their lives. What inevitably follows these posts are the judgments to come about them, and mainly about the women in their swimsuits.
The variety of body-shaming, unfortunately, ranges from the skinny girl who is confident in her own skin, and shows off a little more than most in her posts, to the girl who is curvier and feels confident enough to wear a bikini and shows off her body. Body-shaming is real and it needs to stop.
If you have the slightest bit of self-confidence and feel comfortable in your own skin, you have a huge target on your back. Any sort of imperfection is a green light for haters to comment on your imperfections, making you a victim of body-shaming. It doesn’t matter what size you are — people will find ways to pin point everything about you that they see as a flaw.
Coming from a girl who is larger, I understand body-shaming all too well. Curvier girls who decided to show their self-confidence and wear a bikini on spring break AND post it on social media, good for you. I wish I had the confidence you hold. Unfortunately, some may think otherwise. Personally, I know when I had posted a photo of myself in a bikini, some people said, “She’s too big to be wearing that swimsuit,” and “She’s so curvy, she doesn’t look good.” I listened to these voices and decided to hide my body, along with my self-confidence. Now that I am older, I realize what these people are saying no longer means anything. As long as I am happy, that is all that matters.
To the girls that are skinny and fit, body-shaming spans to you as well, sadly. With a slimmer body type, you are able to wear smaller swimsuits that show off a little more. And unfortunately, sometimes that leads to misperceptions about the type of person you are. “Her swimsuit is barely covering her, what a slut.” My friends have actually experienced people saying that about them. Once again, disregard what these people say. They can only base their judgments off of your post, and the self-confidence you so proudly display.
Why do we continue to put each other down?
Why must we find ways to build ourselves up by putting other women down?
It’s time that we stop body-shaming. We need to see beauty in everyone and everything. Women — keep being confident, sure of yourself, and above all, keep being you. You are enough, and you are beautiful.