Cool Off and bring on the Apocalypse this Summer: Everyone should get to Wear Fancy Underwear Outside
Yes, but remember your sunscreen!
I'm posting a post that I tweeted. Hope that is ok and within the bounds of fair use if I tell you where I found it. I'm also behind the trend on this as I was only vaguely aware of the whole "fatkini" phenom from last summer. Can't say I like the term "fatkini"? Why not the BB, the "beaudatious bikini," as you truly can only appreciate the idea of the bikini if the figure has curves; the bigger the better.
Well I liked this story for summer spice and so am passing it on. I also have a rant about how our cultural antipathy to fat, marginalizes normal healthy sexual desire while appearing to celebrate what to me is really a form of pedophilia.
This year, I made a New Year's resolution that confused some people. By confuse, I mean conversations about it usually went like this:
Me: "Next summer, I'm going to wear a bikini."
Them: "What a great goal! What are you doing? Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? Are you going vegan? Paleo? Are you having the surgery?"
Me: "I said I was going to wear a bikini. I didn't say I was going to lose weight."
Them: Face melts off like they're staring into the Arc of The Covenant.
I didn't understand why this was so hard to grasp. By now, everyone on the Internet has heard the saying, "How to get a bikini body: Put a bikini on your body." The "fatkini" was news last summer, and in such demand that finding one, even through the powers of the Internet, was difficult. This year, I was prepared; I ordered mine in March.
No one I had the above conversation with had the audacity to tell me directly that I shouldn't wear a bikini because my fatness would offend their eyes. Not one person would admit that they didn't want me to wear a bikini because of their aesthetic preference -- a preference that is shaped by our cultural perceptions of what is and isn't beautiful. But that wasn't the reason these people didn't want me to wear a bikini. Of course, it could never be as shallow as that.
The most common concern was my health. Presumably I, as a fat woman, would not know how to properly operate the complicated piece of equipment known as a bikini. What if I strangled in all the straps and ties? What if I became distracted by the complexity of spandex, a substance heretofore unknown to me, and wandered blindly into traffic? What if I ate it? I'm not sure what all these well-meaning people thought was going to happen to me. Blood pressure, heart problems, joint problems and cholesterol were all brought up, but I didn't see any kind of warning label anywhere on the suit that suggested the Surgeon General had investigated these claims. I remain skeptical as to the health problems bikinis cause.
The secondary concern seemed to be that I would be "glorifying obesity." I was going to look so good in my bikini, I would make others question their perceptions of beauty and body size? It seems like that's more of an inducement to wear the bikini than not to wear it. And it's a lovely compliment; I never knew I was so gorgeous as to make people rethink their lifestyles. Move over, Helen of Troy; Jenny Trout is going to wage a war on good health and fit bodies!
A third type of person only worried about my comfort: "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in a one piece?" Or perhaps I would be more comfortable if I didn't go to the beach at all. If I venture into the water in a bikini, the sight of my melanin-deficient Michigan belly might attract beluga whales. Sure, I could secretly live among them and learn their ancient ways, but I couldn't keep that kind of ruse up forever. One day, they would learn of my betrayal, sparking tense conflict between humans and those gentle giants of the sea.
I am ashamed to say that despite all the dire prophecies, I ignored the advice and warnings leveled at my bikini resolution and, in late June, on a cold beach in Copper Harbor, Michigan, I wore my bikini.
Nothing happened. The families spending the day at Hunter's Point did not flee in terror for fear of catching whatever horrible health problems bikinis cause. No one immediately stuffed fistfuls of lard into their mouths to emulate my "glorious" body. And as far as I know, there aren't any whales in Lake Superior, so their ways remain a mystery to me.
I'm not stupid; I know why people didn't want to see me in a bikini. But apparently, I seem stupid to the people who tried to discourage me. I wasn't supposed to see through their excuses, or realize that the connections they were making were flawed. Our cultural discussion of fat bodies and how we clothe them has nothing to do with health concerns, the obesity epidemic or the comfort of fat people. It has everything to do with what we expect from women, what we've been told by the fashion industry and the value we place on "perfect" bodies.
The reason these people do not want to see a fat body in a bikini is because traditionally, that garment is something a woman earns by proving herself attractive enough to exist. If fat women begin wearing them without shame or fear, what's next? Will they have self-esteem? Will they demand respect? Then what will keep them in their proper place? How would conventionally attractive people judge them?
As a society, we need to be more honest in our discussions of other's bodies. If we can't avoid those totally unnecessary conversations, then we should at least admit the truth to ourselves: That this has nothing to do with health, and everything to do with the control we believe is our right to exert over others.
An earlier version of this post appears at Trout Nation
Follow Jenny Trout on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jenny_Trout
I have to say, she looks great and that is one nice bikini, but swimming in Lake Superior in June is what I would question. Cold is definitely an understatement and I remember swimming in Long Lake, Yellowknife.
What I also found interesting was the follow up to this piece which illustrates how desperate we are to read and see a diversity of bodies and a sense of normality in pop-culture.
I wanted to let everyone know that the photo that accompanies
the Huffington Post article was taken by Bronwyn Green. I feel super bad
that I didn’t mention it before.
The Facebook “likes” on my Huffington Post essay, “I Wore A Bikini And Nothing Happened” have reached 100k. I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I knew I was putting my bikini picture on the Huffington Post and the internet in general. On the other hand, my most popular piece there was my Jennifer Lawrence body-shaming article, and that has something like 49k likes. So I didn’t expect for much to happen with it.
WOW. Did I vastly underestimate women’s need to see “imperfect” bodies just doing regular, human stuff. There are so many comments there, and I’ve gotten so many tweets and emails, where women will say things like they’re going to wear shorts, or go sleeveless, or try a two-piece or any bathing suit at all, now that they’ve seen that article. A lot of you have said really sweet things to me over the years about my writing affecting your lives (especially during my 50 Shades of Grey recaps), but it stuns me every time.
Not only am I getting messages going, “You’re helping me with my personal stuff,” but the support I’m getting is overwhelming. People saying, “You look fantastic,” and “my husband approves,” and “you’re wearing it well.” Obviously, that’s not why I posted the article, it’s a broader social commentary (the point of which was that it doesn’t matter how you look, you’re still entitled to wear whatever you want and be comfortable doing it), but the fact that I’ve received more of those messages than negative ones makes me really hopeful for the future of fat people. I’d braced myself against losing my faith in humanity when I scrolled through the comments section, but it was actually restored. Bolstered, even.
This is something that has worried me for some time, the portrayal of the perfect female form as a tall 11 or 12 year old that has yet to reach puberty. That's rather scary.
But this is summer and it's hot and the point is to cool off. So put on your bikini's, short, tall, skinny or fat, slather on the sunscreen and remind the world what an adult human body looks like while you behave like a kid by jumping through the sprinkler. I feel a flash (or flasher) mob coming on.
I'm posting a post that I tweeted. Hope that is ok and within the bounds of fair use if I tell you where I found it. I'm also behind the trend on this as I was only vaguely aware of the whole "fatkini" phenom from last summer. Can't say I like the term "fatkini"? Why not the BB, the "beaudatious bikini," as you truly can only appreciate the idea of the bikini if the figure has curves; the bigger the better.
Well I liked this story for summer spice and so am passing it on. I also have a rant about how our cultural antipathy to fat, marginalizes normal healthy sexual desire while appearing to celebrate what to me is really a form of pedophilia.
I Wore a Bikini and Nothing
Happened
http://jennytrout.com/This year, I made a New Year's resolution that confused some people. By confuse, I mean conversations about it usually went like this:
Me: "Next summer, I'm going to wear a bikini."
Them: "What a great goal! What are you doing? Weight Watchers? Jenny Craig? Are you going vegan? Paleo? Are you having the surgery?"
Me: "I said I was going to wear a bikini. I didn't say I was going to lose weight."
Them: Face melts off like they're staring into the Arc of The Covenant.
I didn't understand why this was so hard to grasp. By now, everyone on the Internet has heard the saying, "How to get a bikini body: Put a bikini on your body." The "fatkini" was news last summer, and in such demand that finding one, even through the powers of the Internet, was difficult. This year, I was prepared; I ordered mine in March.
No one I had the above conversation with had the audacity to tell me directly that I shouldn't wear a bikini because my fatness would offend their eyes. Not one person would admit that they didn't want me to wear a bikini because of their aesthetic preference -- a preference that is shaped by our cultural perceptions of what is and isn't beautiful. But that wasn't the reason these people didn't want me to wear a bikini. Of course, it could never be as shallow as that.
The most common concern was my health. Presumably I, as a fat woman, would not know how to properly operate the complicated piece of equipment known as a bikini. What if I strangled in all the straps and ties? What if I became distracted by the complexity of spandex, a substance heretofore unknown to me, and wandered blindly into traffic? What if I ate it? I'm not sure what all these well-meaning people thought was going to happen to me. Blood pressure, heart problems, joint problems and cholesterol were all brought up, but I didn't see any kind of warning label anywhere on the suit that suggested the Surgeon General had investigated these claims. I remain skeptical as to the health problems bikinis cause.
The secondary concern seemed to be that I would be "glorifying obesity." I was going to look so good in my bikini, I would make others question their perceptions of beauty and body size? It seems like that's more of an inducement to wear the bikini than not to wear it. And it's a lovely compliment; I never knew I was so gorgeous as to make people rethink their lifestyles. Move over, Helen of Troy; Jenny Trout is going to wage a war on good health and fit bodies!
A third type of person only worried about my comfort: "Wouldn't you be more comfortable in a one piece?" Or perhaps I would be more comfortable if I didn't go to the beach at all. If I venture into the water in a bikini, the sight of my melanin-deficient Michigan belly might attract beluga whales. Sure, I could secretly live among them and learn their ancient ways, but I couldn't keep that kind of ruse up forever. One day, they would learn of my betrayal, sparking tense conflict between humans and those gentle giants of the sea.
I am ashamed to say that despite all the dire prophecies, I ignored the advice and warnings leveled at my bikini resolution and, in late June, on a cold beach in Copper Harbor, Michigan, I wore my bikini.
Nothing happened. The families spending the day at Hunter's Point did not flee in terror for fear of catching whatever horrible health problems bikinis cause. No one immediately stuffed fistfuls of lard into their mouths to emulate my "glorious" body. And as far as I know, there aren't any whales in Lake Superior, so their ways remain a mystery to me.
I'm not stupid; I know why people didn't want to see me in a bikini. But apparently, I seem stupid to the people who tried to discourage me. I wasn't supposed to see through their excuses, or realize that the connections they were making were flawed. Our cultural discussion of fat bodies and how we clothe them has nothing to do with health concerns, the obesity epidemic or the comfort of fat people. It has everything to do with what we expect from women, what we've been told by the fashion industry and the value we place on "perfect" bodies.
The reason these people do not want to see a fat body in a bikini is because traditionally, that garment is something a woman earns by proving herself attractive enough to exist. If fat women begin wearing them without shame or fear, what's next? Will they have self-esteem? Will they demand respect? Then what will keep them in their proper place? How would conventionally attractive people judge them?
As a society, we need to be more honest in our discussions of other's bodies. If we can't avoid those totally unnecessary conversations, then we should at least admit the truth to ourselves: That this has nothing to do with health, and everything to do with the control we believe is our right to exert over others.
An earlier version of this post appears at Trout Nation
Follow Jenny Trout on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Jenny_Trout
_______________
What I also found interesting was the follow up to this piece which illustrates how desperate we are to read and see a diversity of bodies and a sense of normality in pop-culture.
So, at least a 100,000 people have seen me in my bathing-suit
The Facebook “likes” on my Huffington Post essay, “I Wore A Bikini And Nothing Happened” have reached 100k. I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I knew I was putting my bikini picture on the Huffington Post and the internet in general. On the other hand, my most popular piece there was my Jennifer Lawrence body-shaming article, and that has something like 49k likes. So I didn’t expect for much to happen with it.
WOW. Did I vastly underestimate women’s need to see “imperfect” bodies just doing regular, human stuff. There are so many comments there, and I’ve gotten so many tweets and emails, where women will say things like they’re going to wear shorts, or go sleeveless, or try a two-piece or any bathing suit at all, now that they’ve seen that article. A lot of you have said really sweet things to me over the years about my writing affecting your lives (especially during my 50 Shades of Grey recaps), but it stuns me every time.
Not only am I getting messages going, “You’re helping me with my personal stuff,” but the support I’m getting is overwhelming. People saying, “You look fantastic,” and “my husband approves,” and “you’re wearing it well.” Obviously, that’s not why I posted the article, it’s a broader social commentary (the point of which was that it doesn’t matter how you look, you’re still entitled to wear whatever you want and be comfortable doing it), but the fact that I’ve received more of those messages than negative ones makes me really hopeful for the future of fat people. I’d braced myself against losing my faith in humanity when I scrolled through the comments section, but it was actually restored. Bolstered, even.
_____________
That is certainly nice to see and hear about. I keep an interest in this sort of portrayal of fashion that celebrates the diversity of the human body and does not aspire to airbrush and photo-shop it into what is really a virtual form that marginalizes everyone not only in terms of how they view their own bodies but also in terms of their sexual desires and preferences.
I haven't seen a lot of writing on this although I haven't actively looked for it either, but it seems that our social obsession with thinness and the super model form would marginalize anyone whose sexual preferences extended to a partner that had more meat on their bones. When you think that the average North American woman is a size 14 (not sure what it is for men) and that the majority of these people are coupling quite well, you have to really wonder why we don't accuse the majority of North America as having a "fat fetish." It's not that we all have a "fat fetish," it's just our cultural antipathy to fat means that a normal desire to have relations with a normal person is automatically pejoratized and marginalized. No one can really talk about getting turned on by FAT people! But, on the other hand, lusting after 5' 8'' to 6' ectomorphic super models with small hips that are preferably hairless (given the popularity of brazilian wax jobs as a form of personal hygiene) doesn't seem to strike anyone as a bit odd and really just a form of pedophilia.
This is something that has worried me for some time, the portrayal of the perfect female form as a tall 11 or 12 year old that has yet to reach puberty. That's rather scary.
But this is summer and it's hot and the point is to cool off. So put on your bikini's, short, tall, skinny or fat, slather on the sunscreen and remind the world what an adult human body looks like while you behave like a kid by jumping through the sprinkler. I feel a flash (or flasher) mob coming on.
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