The instant bikini body is within thinking distance

Everywhere around us adverts are springing up, luring us into thinking that our bodies aren’t up to summer.

More than that, our bodies really ought to be up to summer and having summer-ready bodies should be something we really want.

Now, we’re not stupid, so we know this is a marketing ruse which takes advantage of social insecurities to make you feel bad about yourself and hence to motivate you to go out and buy products that will help you feel better about yourself.

And what a range of products!  There are products which are supposed to have a direct effect on our bodies (lotions, potions, gym memberships) or an indirect effect (magazines, courses, swimwear).

However savvy we are about how we’re being sold at, this still has the power to cut your confidence right to the quick. Even if you can shrug off one advert or infomercial today, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to tomorrow.  According to the laws of probability, the sheer volume and frequency of it will affect you at least once a year, because there will come a day when your resistance is down and it will get through.

With so much about, it’s really hard to resist.

A bikini body = a body that can wear a bikini

I was going to say “will get through your defences”, but why should be need defences in the first place?  Damn this incessant bombarding of our self-esteem!

Anyway, in the time you’ve been reading this, I wouldn’t be surprised if another piece of condescending cr*p about bikini bodies has popped up into one of your pop ups, elbowed its way onto an advertising banner in your browser or jumped out at you from a bus shelter..

So here’s a clarion call to resist the temptation to feel bad about ourselves. As the title says, you already have a bikini body, you really do (I mean, I’m guessing that if this stuff makes you feel bad you’re not male, but if you are, go for it.  It’s your world).

But the only way out is to remember that we all already have bikini bodies, because we have bodies that can wear bikinis!

I myself have a bikini body.  I never wear bikinis, though, because I’ve never been interested in them*. They don’t suit my personality. There’s something way too girlie about them for me.  Neither do baby doll nighties or twee little handbags the size of a cigarette packet. I’ve decided against these well before I get to “looks” on the checklist of negatives.  The fact that you have a bikini body already does not mean you have to wear a bikini and force yourself to like it in order to prove you are comfortable in your own skin.

(*Apart from those well-upholstered, high-waisted 50s Hollywood ones.  I sometimes think about getting one of those. But I’m too lazy to pull off the bright red lippy, kitten heels and grooming routine that complete the look).

Wear a bikini only if you want to

You too have a bikini body. Wear an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot one with pride if you want to.  However, if, like me, you don’t want to wear one, then don’t.

You’re not actually required to force yourself to like how you feel in one.  You have your own aesthetic, and it’s perfectly OK to apply it to yourself. You don’t have to try to find everything equally beautiful any more than you have to try to get a thigh gap or post a swimwear belfie on Instagram.

Let’s keep all the swimwear options open and not judge anyone else’s choice.