Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion piece.
With summer quickly approaching, the age old question presents itself: “How do I achieve the perfect beach body?”
Step 1: Have a body.
Step 2: Go to the beach.
The social pressure to “get in shape” is fueled by corporations seeking to make money off of insecure customers. You are already in shape, whether women’s magazines define your shape in ridiculously fruity terms like “apple” or “pear.” You can be happy and healthy at any size and any shape. Wear whatever you want, not just slimming colors and fabrics. Wear high heels, even if you’re six feet tall. Wear that bikini because you want to, because it makes you feel amazing, and because you’re going swimming, and that’s what you chose to wear.
Work out because you know it makes you healthier and stronger. No one has the right to make you feel like you have to work out because your body is wrong. Everyone has imperfections and these imperfections are what make us human and unique. There are countless products claiming to destroy fat, cellulite, stretch marks, you name it, but these little headaches that we poke and prod at are what mark our human experiences. Fat from eating good food. Cellulite from becoming a woman. Stretch marks from growing.
You were born with your body. Take care of it and love it.
