HEALTH

As the temperature heats up and the school year comes to a close, you are bound to hear someone tell you it’s time to get your beach body ready. The term “beach body,” although once popular in its use, is now fading fast in society. For many, when swimsuit season rears its ugly head it often feels like a sort of pop quiz to see who is ready to face society’s image of the perfect bod. As we delve deeper into the women’s movement, this is less and less the case. Women have decided to take the term “beach body” back, and it’s about time!

Throughout the history of bathing suits, the definition of the term has changed quite a bit.

Back in the 18th century when women were first permitted to wear bathing suits, a “beach body” didn’t even exist. Women’s bathing suits consisted of multiple articles of clothing, including a long-sleeved dress, bloomers, pants, gloves and a bonnet. Talk about an outfit! The social norm at the time was to protect skin from the sun to keep it as pristine as possible and also to make sure the outline of the female body was not able to be seen.  Fast forward to the end of the 20th century and you can see that things took a complete 180-degree turn. Not only was the existence of tight two-piece suits brought on the fashion scene but with them the expectation of the perfect body. Entertainment newscasters, celebrity magazine writers all gawked, declaring hollywood’s most beautiful by the size of their waist and the lack of cellulite on their thighs. Using the term “beach body,” they pushed the idea that the only type of body on the beach should be skinny-mini and hourglass-shaped.

As people in the 21st century are now gearing up to battle long-time, body-shaming industries and promote self love, women are redefining the beach body. Celebs are coming forward as individuals and telling their fans to love what they have and who they are, reiterating that being healthy is being beautiful. Now if your body is on the beach, it’s considered a beach body.

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Photo credit: Gabi Gregg

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by Erin Farrugia | 5/21/2017