By Megen Hibbins
It is that time of year again, the time we have to start to think about getting into our swimsuits. How many people really LOVE the idea of swimsuit shopping?
Is our aversion to swimsuit and underwear shopping due to the unrealistic view of women put forward by the media, by the way we were raised or are we just naturally body conscious?
Women today face so many challenges and with today’s image of women in the social media world, it is harder than ever to be comfortable in our own skin.
I started out my day feeling completely comfortable in my own skin and happy, ready for the day. The subject of our children’s pending swimming lessons soon changed this mood when the issue of swimmers came into the conversation. Would I say I am generally a body conscious person? Definitely not. Well, not until swimmers are mentioned anyway.
Today I started feeling VERY conscious of my body, and instead of feeling 20 again I felt stressed, anxious and not at all sexy. So what is it about the swimming season that sends us into this uncomfortable state of being?
Well, let’s face it: we are just buying visible underwear, underwear that EVERYONE gets to see. If we aren’t comfortable in what we are wearing and feeling sexy then we certainly aren’t going to want our body on show. Is this due to how the media now portrays what they sell as “normal” women?
In my case, I ended up having a massive anxiety attack and melting down at my husband. This in complete contrast to the usual relaxed nature of my personality. I found that the thought of going swimsuit shopping made me feel widely inadequate and very conscious of my body, and in particular my bum.
