Now that the summer weather is finally here, we’ve been out to the beach a couple of times. I’ve been seeing a new trend that I am completely down with. Women of all sizes are wearing bikinis and enjoying the sun. I think there has been a shift in thinking that a size 2 is the ‘perfect size.’ People are starting to embrace their bodies. I haven’t heard any of my friends recently turn down a dessert because bikini season is coming up.
We can always strive to move our bodies more and eat more healthily, but everyone’s bodies are different and everyone should feel good in their own skin. No one should ever feel bad because they look different. If you stuck 100 women in a room and gave them all the exact same things to eat and made them exercise all the same way, their bodies would still look different. Why does the world say that one person is more beautiful than another?
In my teen years and well into my 20s, I never wore shorts because I hated the way my thighs looked. I have cellulite. I tried every diet and did every possible leg workout. I could never get rid of it. I was hot some days but I didn’t care. No one could see my thighs. I sat on the sidelines because society said my thighs weren’t smooth enough.
Looking back, that was so silly. But it was how I felt. And now as a mom of three daughters, I never want them to feel that way. All three of them have different types of bodies and not one is better than the other. Not one is more beautiful than the other. I want them to wear the clothes they want and jump into the pool and have fun without ever worrying about what other people think of the way they look.
READ MORE: Early school dismissals are a pain for parents
I’m so happy that clothing companies are using models that aren’t just rail thin and showing that curves can be beautiful too.
Growing up, I’d see magazine covers lining the checkout line in the grocery store that showed celebrities who were too thin or too fat. I mean, now there aren’t as many magazines around, but advertising is still in our faces everywhere. However, it now seems like the bullying and the harassment of celebrities’ bodies is a thing of the past.
There are body-positive influencers and other famous people embracing their different shapes and showing women and men that you can feel sexy in their own skin.
Of course, there will be days when we don’t feel confident, but overall I want to be a good example for my daughters. I don’t want to not wear a pair of shorts when it is hot out simply because of my bumpy thighs and I would never want my daughters to ever feel about bad themselves because of the way they look.
I don’t want to deprive myself of eating (or drinking … hehe) something because bikini season is here and I don’t want my daughters to either.
Let’s enjoy this summer, embrace who we are and how we look and feel good about ourselves.
Let’s also stop judging each other and more importantly, stop judging ourselves so harshly.
@MariscaDekkema
marisca.bakker@interior-news.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.