What is a beach-ready body? Is it simply anybody that is set to visit the beach, or is it only restricted to stereotypically slim and conventionally attractive people? For years, a beach-ready body has been considered the latter and people have put themselves through intense diets and exercise so they wouldn’t be judged at the beach. Going to the beach to relax on vacation should not be turned into a struggle to lose weight or grow muscles before the trip. The obsession with beach bodies has escalated to new heights and highlights the emphasis placed by society on an “ideal body”.
Spain’s Ministry of Equality launched a new campaign that said, “All bodies are beach bodies”. The campaign image features five women of different shapes and sizes relaxing on the beach. It aims to encourage women with body image issues to go to the beach without fear of judgement and mockery. The slogan of the campaign is on the image and reads, “Summer is ours too.”
The Minister of Social Rights in Spain, Ione Belarra took to Twitter to share the image. She wrote in the caption, “All bodies are beach bodies. Our bodies are to be cared for, respected, and enjoyed.”
Suggested Reading: Dealing With Body Image Issues: How I Learnt To Love My Body More
What Is A Beach Body?
A beach body is considered the “ideal body” a person could have for when they visit the beach and dress in revealing clothing.
An advertisement for a “weight loss collection” asking people whether they were beach-body ready was banned in the United Kingdom over body confidence and health concerns. The advertisement featured the “ideal body” for a woman, slim waist and long hair.
After triggering insecurities about people’s physical appearance, the advertisement doubled down on making women feel bad about themselves by promoting a weight loss collection.
Advertisements tend to feature scantily clad models and pressure women to strive for the so-called ideal or perfect body. By using photos of models that are often heavily edited, advertisements tell women that the unrealistic standards of beauty being displayed are the norm. Plus-sized women or women with scars are rarely featured in such advertisements.
The aforementioned campaign happened to feature diverse women, such as plus-sized women and a woman with a mastectomy.
Women began participating in extreme workout regimes, diet culture, and plastic surgeries as they chase the impossible beauty standards set by patronising advertisements.
People with body image issues already struggle with self-esteem issues, and advertisements telling them they should change their bodies to be worthy only worsen the situation.
Spain Beach Body Campaign: What Is The Need For Such Campaigns?
The idea of having the perfect beach body encapsulates how advertisements and corporations exploit people’s insecurities to make money. By constantly insisting that women have to look a certain way to be “beach-ready”, women are told that they only have value if they look a particular way.
When visiting the beach, people tend to favour clothes that are more revealing. For women who don’t have the body of an airbrushed model, the idea of a beach body points out all of their “flaws”, also known as physical attributes.
It is imperative that women realise that bodies do not need to be “flawless” and that they should be able to enjoy themselves, regardless of their physical appearance.
As the Minister of Equality of Spain Irene Montero said, “All bodies are valid and we have the right to enjoy life as we are, without guilt or shame."
Views expressed by the author are their own.
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