Bikini ready body

Snippylynn · May 2011

A friend of mine posted this article on facebook and I pretty much love it (though I had to get around the pretentiousness of the writing a bit).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/19/bikini-body-anyone

Thoughts? Opinions?

Snippylynn · May 2011

I especially liked this paragraph:

When it finally became popular in the 1960s, the bikini was a symbol of physical liberation, of beautiful women reacting to the stern sexual prudery of previous decades by exposing as much skin to the sun as they pleased. Today, as with many iterations of the sexual emancipation rhetoric of the 1960s, wearing a bikini is no longer associated with pleasure and daring, but with anxiety, dieting rituals and joyless physical performance.

It just seems ridiculous for women to go on this gangbuster diet round or fitness round for very little reason. I have the same issue with dieting for a wedding. Fine if you want to make it part of an overall lifestyle change, and you plan to continue after the event, but to do it just for the sake of photos? Mer.

crfische · May 2011

I like it, too.

I have noticed that ya know, there ARE seemingly a number of people who do sport the bikini without the perfect body. I usually admire their ability to rock it, but at the same time, I can see people watching, staring, talking about them, and it makes me sad.

annakb8 · May 2011

I see his point, she does sound a bit pretentious though.

I've never been one to freak out about losing weight just because it was bikini season or anything like that though. I usually want to lose weight to look good in clothes. Maybe I'm weird though. Maybe this is also because I grew up where every day of the year could be considered "bikini season." There was less pressure on looking good for summer when you might be able to go to the pool on a nice day in January.

RobotLegs · May 2011

I've always preferred one pieces, even when I could wear a bikini. I like a little modesty. But yeah, the pressure to look good in a bikini every summer is... overwhelming for women.

Of course, I will look more like this on the beach this summer:

RobotLegs · May 2011

*The whale, not the dudes.

Ghoti · May 2011

Honestly? I think its dumb. "Bikini ready bodies" aren't a myth, and to say that you only get fit with grueling work, cosmetic surgery and starvation is pretty asinine. But I also admire people who have active athletic lifestyles, so there's that.

Ghoti · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:5695cbc7-d86d-4bb0-b1cd-5ba1594c6385">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]I've always preferred one pieces, even when I could wear a bikini. I like a little modesty. But yeah, the pressure to look good in a bikini every summer is... overwhelming for women. Of course, I will look more like this on the beach this summer:
Posted by RobotLegs[/QUOTE]
With 4 guys all over ya?

Snippylynn · May 2011

It's true Christy and it's terrible. I have caught myself saying "Why is that woman wearing that" while here in Europe where it seems that, unlike the UK, women are under less pressure to conform to the supermodel body type. Hell, I saw women in Italy with pubes and pit hair growing ALL ova da place.

RobotLegs · May 2011

I wish, Ghoti. Rawr. lol

annakb8 · May 2011

Snippy, I noticed that in Europe women seem to be much more comfortable rocking a bikini through middle age and beyond. I went to Lake Bled in Slovenia and I don't think I saw anyone besides little girls wear one-pieces. I think a lot of those women would have felt more pressure to cover up if they had been American.

Snippylynn · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:65681956-eaf2-4b0f-a6bb-f9d4ef7acb52">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]Honestly? I think its dumb. "Bikini ready bodies" aren't a myth, and to say that you only get fit with grueling work, cosmetic surgery and starvation is pretty asinine. But I also admire people who have active athletic lifestyles, so there's that.
Posted by Ghoti[/QUOTE]

I get where you're coming from with that, but the articles to which she is referring are most certainly not targeted towards women with a tight bod already. If you are already healthy and working out, wouldn't you skip over those articles or even read those magazines at all? I feel pretty confident that the author is speaking about the Cosmo's and Glamours and all of those kinds of magazines. If someone is picking up a Women's Health, then they're doing it because they already have an interest in that kind of lifestyle.

laurenpm · May 2011

That's a really interesting article. It's crazy how much we obsess about the way we look these days. But I would probably *keel* over if you told me I had to go out in public in a bikini right now. Not happening. No way.

ETA: because I can't type or talk today...

Ghoti · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:a925b8c3-57ee-4c1d-8d08-b577a16dee64">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bikini ready body : I get where you're coming from with that, but the articles to which she is referring are most certainly not targeted towards women with a tight bod already. I<strong>f you are already healthy and working out, wouldn't you skip over those articles or even read those magazines at all?</strong> I feel pretty confident that the author is speaking about the Cosmo's and Glamours and all of those kinds of magazines. If someone is picking up a Women's Health, then they're doing it because they already have an interest in that kind of lifestyle.
Posted by Snippylynn[/QUOTE]
Because you told me too? :) <div>I didn't even look at the website...It looks like a newspaper or something though right? So their target audience is much wider than just Cosmo girls, I'd assume.<div>
</div><div>And I think it's normal to think "why are they wearing that?" I think that about these gals...</div><div>
<a href="#" title="Click to view a larger photo" onclick="return gSiteLife.LoadForumPage('ForumImage', 'plckPhotoId', 'e8104c1c-debd-4be5-b1cf-8a17099c6471', 'plckRedirectUrl', gSiteLife.EscapeValue(window.location.href));"> <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/8/1/e8104c1c-debd-4be5-b1cf-8a17099c6471.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>
</div></div>

ricksang · May 2011

I can relate. We are going to Fl. in June and I have been busting my hump to get in bikini shape. Ugh I kind of wish we werent going to the beach.

Snippylynn · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:81d58255-b63c-456d-b4ab-2da03a92f61a">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]That's a really interesting article. It's crazy how much we obsess about the way we look these days. But I would probably kill over if you told me I had to go out in public in a bikini right now. Not happening. No way.
Posted by laurenpm[/QUOTE]

Kill what?

Snippylynn · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:c4c16d7a-cc9e-4c9d-8205-1b6f3246b4c7">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bikini ready body : Because you told me too? :) I didn't even look at the website...It looks like a newspaper or something though right? So their target audience is much wider than just Cosmo girls, I'd assume. And I think it's normal to think "why are they wearing that?" I think that about these gals...
Posted by Ghoti[/QUOTE]
Oookay. The author is refering to articles that appear in magazines in the spring to exhort people to get the bikini ready body. This article is a British newspaper and she is maligning this tactic.

What are you not getting?

ricksang · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:24834d4b-8993-4ec8-9c59-adb3ce0482a0">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bikini ready body : Kill what?
Posted by Snippylynn[/QUOTE]

HEH!

Snippylynn · May 2011

Ricks, I would assume that you have a rockin bod anyway, or at the very least are very HEALTHY. Why are you working yourself so hard to not even be able to enjoy your trip?

Does your H feel like he needs to do anything or is it just you?

laurenpm · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:24834d4b-8993-4ec8-9c59-adb3ce0482a0">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bikini ready body : Kill what?
Posted by Snippylynn[/QUOTE]
Word fail... I hate it when that happens!

Snippylynn · May 2011

What's the right one then?

adamar15 · May 2011

:: raises hand ::

Keel. The correct word is keel.

Snippylynn · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:1c31a39b-48e6-4317-9536-246e87f8c276">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]:: raises hand :: Keel. The correct word is keel.
Posted by adamar15[/QUOTE]
<img src="http://zangdizzlie.66ghz.com/wiki/images/6/61/Gold-star_small.png" alt="http://zangdizzlie.66ghz.com/wiki/images/6/61/Gold-star_small.png" />

adamar15 · May 2011

Ha, I almost added a line about getting a gold star. Score.

laurenpm · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:1c727e46-bc0e-4f16-b0d5-585cc0585f3c">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]What's the right one then? :)
Posted by Snippylynn[/QUOTE]
I was going for *keel* over... like fall over dead. Kill over doesn't make any sense. Ugh...I tried.

Snippylynn · May 2011

I don't think it's bad for anyone to get in better shape either. I DO think it's bad if they take it to extremes or it's not part of an overall lifestyle change, not just the wish and hope that they'll end up like celebutantes.

Personally, I'd rather be fed and happy then starving and angry. lol

booboo1978 · May 2011

It's too bad the message of "living healthfully and taking care of yourself" translates to so many as "having to look perfect". there's a huge difference. I do my best to be healthy and active, but I'm not sacrificing the things in life I love (go ahead, take away the bottle of reisling or the bowl of pasta and see what happens). Women here get judged way harsher on physical attributes, and it's so mentally and emotionally detrimental. When I've been in Europe, I feel like it's "work what you've got, you're beautiful". Here, I feel like it's "why show up at the beach if you don't look like you're magazine cover ready?"

Ghoti · May 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_bikini-ready-body?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:5df52b5f-a9da-42f4-89e2-90cb9292d08aPost:611b9351-c44e-40f1-be60-ba7d51e060d6">Re: Bikini ready body</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bikini ready body : Oookay. The author is refering to articles that appear in magazines in the spring to exhort people to get the bikini ready body. This article is a British newspaper and she is maligning this tactic. What are you not getting?
Posted by Snippylynn[/QUOTE]
Well, I'm confused. are we discussing the article or the fact that magazines show bikini ready people every summer?

sarah0725 · May 2011

I am currently on WW. I have a wedding coming up. I'm aware that, as of this point and my current rate of weight loss, I will probably be at least six pounds above my healthy weight range when my wedding comes around. I'm okay with that.

I'm sort of losing weight for the wedding, but I'm also sort of losing it because I feel like it. I was sick of dieting a few years ago, so I started eating whatever. Then I got sick of being flubby, so I went back on WW. I'm enjoying the uptick in body image, but I feel like I'd like to reach a point where I'm okay with my body even if I'm carrying a bit of extra weight. Maybe someday.

As for bikinis, I'm personally kind of glad when I'm at the beach and I see people in swimsuits with imperfect bodies. I'm so sick of striving for the perfect body, and yet I like swimming, so I want to wear a swimsuit to the beach. I feel like everybody should get to go swimming no matter what they weigh, and depriving oneself of doing that due to poor body image is sad.

jemmini6 · May 2011

I think the most ridiculous thing about magazine covers and celebrities is that they try to make it sound like 1. they actually look like that (when you know they spend hours of photo retouching on a single magazine cover) or 2. that normal women have the time and resources to even have the basis of those bodies. You know why Kim Kardashian looks good in a bikini? Because she has a personal trainer and works out for hours a day plus a dietician, chef, etc that keep her on track. Her JOB is looking good (lord knows she couldn't have a career in anything else). I'm sure if my job was to basically work out and spend all day on beauty regimens that I'd look pretty slamming too...but unfortunately, I actually have to work for a living.

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