What do I dread more than anything? What is it I would put above even childbirth (and I went non-medicated all three times) on my list of most painful things? Swimsuit shopping. YUK!!!!!!!! The 10% of women who don't dread it - runway models, victoria secret models, etc. - along with their airbrush artists, make it heck for the rest of us.
Maybe it's just me, but why is it swimsuit shopping, more than anything else, is such a blow to my self esteem. Is it because we live in a society where physical beauty is valued so highly? As a Christian I know that God looks at my heart, not my figure. Is it because I'm afraid others who see my much less than perfect body exposed will somehow think less of me? I don't know.
Why do we allow society to put such unreasonable physical standards on feminine beauty? The average size woman in the U.S. is a size 14. The average runway model is a size 0. I'm not sure, but I think print models are allow to be a little larger, maybe a 2 or 4. Why, why, why, don't we stand up to advertisers and demand real models for our clothing. I have no problem with presenting a nice look but when the standard for the perfect woman is a woman who starves herself to the point of serious physical problems, sometimes even death, then we as a society have crossed the line.
Why is it this strange phenomena does not affect men to the extent that it affects women?
The reason for this random post is that Laine and I have to go swimsuit shopping today. It is two weeks until our Florida vacation and neither of us has a suit, so we must go. I can promise you the day will not end well.
What frustrates me most is that even Laine, who, for those of you who have never seen her, has a figure that any woman would be glad to have (5'9" tall, 138 lbs, 39-27-41 - these figures will mean nothing to you men but women will understand) will end up in tears, saying that she is just going to wear shorts and a t-shirt. One year she actually shopped for boy's swim suit bottoms to wear with a swim top.
Well, off we go.
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4 comments:
I can remember being around Laine's age and feeling the same way...and now I look back at pictures of myself then and think "Good grief! I looked awesome!" (at least compared to my post child-birth body) "I should have worn a bikini daily!" :-) Good luck...may your tears be few and your laughs be many!!! :-)
Okay, now I need to rewrite what I originally posted because it came out wrong.
I despise swimsuit shopping also -- always have. I've never been proportioned well. Add to that the fact that I no longer exercise or eat right, a bathing suit is an "in your face" reality check for me.
I hope you found something that fit well, and if not, I hope you had more giggles than rants!
"modest swimwear" - a great google search!
There really are alternatives. Hallelujah!
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