Newsflash: No One Else Cares How You Look in Your Bikini
The term “beach body” is so last decade. Nowadays, we’re all starting to clue into the fact that every body is a beach body. And to have a bikini body, all you have to do is simply put on a bikini. There’s no more time for body shaming. That said, it’s easy to feel empowered by body positive books or movements online, but when it comes time to actually hit the beach and bare your own body, that insecurity can creep back up. But a new study says that, even if you’re feeling self-conscious about your own bikini body, chances are no one else on the beach cares what you look like.
First of all, the Planet Fitness survey proves that we do have some serious body acceptance issues in our culture. They found that 33 percent of Americans would rather go to the dentist than wear a bikini. That’s some serious “beachtimidation,” as they call it, which is similar to “gymtimidation,” AKA the fear of going to the gym and being surrounded by super fit people while you’re not feeling so hot yourself. Almost half of the 1,000 people surveyed said they don’t feel confident in a bathing suit. Yikes!
Meanwhile, 76 percent of those surveyed said they’re more critical of their own appearance than they are of the way others look. In other words, everyone else at the beach is so caught up in worrying about their own beach bods that no one is thinking twice about how you look in a bikini. Phew!
Bottom line: Embrace YOUR bikini body. Everyone else is just trying to do the same!
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(Photos via Brit + Co)