HOW TO GET A BIKINI BODY: Advice from a swimwear company
If you are looking for an article that:
- Reinforces the societal standard that women need to lose weight to wear a bikini
- Perpetuates the assumption that you need to look a certain way to do things that give you joy
- Suggests diet and exercise to achieve a bikini body
Then this article is not for you. However, if you are looking for an article that:
- Challenges the societal standard that women need to change their appearance to wear a swimsuit
Then you are in the right place.
It’s that time of year again. Discussion arises about the need to change our bodies for summer and “get in shape” to wear a bikini. Maybe it’s someone you know who has brought it up in conversation. Or a post on socials titled “get ready for summer” with a multi-step program on how to do it. Or maybe you are scouring the internet for a bikini and are plagued with one body type that does not resemble yours. All of these leaving you with the feeling that you need to change what you look like to be accepted on the beach in a few months.
It is very easy to fall into this mindset and entertain beauty standards that have been engrained into us from a young age. Social media has done very little to break these norms that have been set. To break the cycle, it takes a community of individuals determined to normalize all bodies being bikini bodies.
There are a number of things we would recommend to those of you ready to embark on this journey. The first is to follow models who represent your size and those who normalize beauty at every size. From here, continue to diversify who you follow with more representation and normalize the differences from human to human. The second is to find swimwear brands that offers and showcases your size, and shares images on social media that challenge traditional industry standards around who can wear a bikini. Lastly, speak to yourself the way that you do to your friends; with kindness and affirmations.
Some affirmations we would like to share with you as a swimwear company:
Your body is worthy of wearing a bikini no matter what it looks like- all year round.
You do not need to change your body to wear a bikini.
You are worthy of doing whatever brings you joy regardless of what you look like.
We feel that you have two choices in life. You can spend your time focused on changing what you have and never leave a cycle of dissatisfaction if your idea of dream body is not achieved. Or you can focus on what your body does for you and treat it well, finding things that you love about it and making that your focus. Life is too short to focus on a constant cycle of “never enough”.
Our advice: wear the bikini.