The toxic “beach ready” talk returns – but we can do so much better

It’s usually this time of year that fashion writers present themselves as defenders of the body-fascist ideals that still pervade. They begin to answer questions no one has asked: How old is too old to wear a bikini? Are shorts acceptable above a size 12? They might be dismayed that in many brands, size 12 swimsuits are categorized as L (large).

There will be a discussion about short lengths or skirts with throwaway lines about covering one’s knees if they don’t meet a coded level of thinness. We may be talking a lot about cardigans rather than summer dresses: hide those bingo wings! Reader beware. Needless to say, I don’t subscribe to this line of thinking. Life is way, way too short to worry about it, well, short.

But a heatwave and the resulting opportunity for flesh exposure brings out aunt’s judgment in many. As women, we still do ourselves a disservice, criticizing our bodies and taking this contempt out on others as well. We find the “problem” areas and spend hours in the locker room trying to hide the fleshy parts we don’t like. We try to find things that are “flattering,” which is basically a misleading word for “not looking fat.”

Not long ago, my daughter came home from school with a story about some kids in her class who had pointed out the size of another girl’s legs. She was six years old. The seed of body hatred is sown young and usually comes from outside. Girls will learn what their body is and where it fits into the pattern of our cultural punishment long before they take the time to evaluate it for themselves.

The “beach body ready” line has reappeared recently. It was, as you may recall, the subject of a tedious Tube advert by something called Protein World about ten years ago that was pilloried and the subject of countless thoughts and movements on social media, provoking a predictable reflex that all bodies are beach bodies. loan, etc. Doctors have resurrected the phrase in response to hospitalizations they’re seeing from young women unnecessarily injecting themselves with weight-loss drugs, or Wegovy — one of the brands that has gone viral.

The World Health Organization has just issued a global alert regarding counterfeit versions of these products, the originals of which are easily available in online pharmacies and beauticians. From the start, it was obvious that girls and women with eating disorders would find a way to access appetite suppressant drugs, if necessary by lying on online apps. That there has not been more caution and control over how these drugs are accessed is appalling. Fatphobia is incredibly lucrative.

Anorexia nervosa is far too complicated an illness to be completely abandoned by the simple desire to be thinner. I am not passing judgment on those who take weight loss injections for their own health issues. When a friend quietly admitted to me that she was partaking in it, after years of self-loathing and existing in a world that thinks your body is bad, I could understand why it was tempting.

But one thing we can try to do better is the low-level derision we hurl at our own bodies and those of others, the background noise of covering arms and legs in the name of shame rather than fakeness. modesty, microaggressions against all bodies wear bikinis, nicknames given to fleshy thighs and stomachs. We need to stop planting these seeds of negativity, it is a dangerous weed with roots and consequences that run too deep.

Victoria Moss is fashion director of the Evening Standard and ES Magazine