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Your Body Is Already Perfect
See you at the beach
Recently I wrote a thread on Twitter after hearing a run-of-the-mill advertisement about achieving the perfect summer body. In my first tweet I shared, “All bodies are summer bodies. I beg y’all to criticize these Eurocentric standards of beauty before you criticize your own (already perfect) body.”
According to fitness blogs and advertisements, the “perfect beach body” embodies Eurocentric standards of beauty. Summer bodies belong to people with white (though slightly tanned) skin, thin frames, muscular builds (though not too muscular if you are feminine presenting), blonde hair, and abled bodies. When I was in college (which was not that long ago) the “perfect beach body” also had a so-called thigh gap meaning that there was a pronounced space between one’s thighs. This archetype is ultimately exclusionary to the vast majority of bodies on the planet, yet it is repackaged and sold to all of us as ideal. It’s complete bullshit.
Fortunately, I am not the first person to name and shame the “perfect beach body” industry. In 2016, Taylor Chapman addressed the classist nature of the beach body industry and in 2017 Brittany McNamara wrote for Teen Vogue about Body positive influencer Megan Jayne Crabbe and her campaign to change the way we perceive beach-ready bodies. Gabi Fresh, co-founder of the plus size brand…
