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Bikinis, Tankinis and Speedos, Oh My! Coping with the Terror of Bathing Suit Season By Stacey Nye, PhD, FAED
While bathing suit season makes most of us over the age of 5 slightly queasy, it can strike fear in the hearts of those with eating and/or weight issues. In fact, the anxiety begins under bright fluorescent lights in front of the 3-way fitting room mirror. Limitless articles advising us on finding the right bathing suit to flatter our body cannot prepare us enough for the sight of our cellulite bulging out of a $200 piece of Lycra. In response, a number of of us will miss out on countless fun activities and simply refuse to put a swimsuit on. Many of us will put on a swimsuit, but need to observe a set of self-imposed rules to counteract the anxiety; like wrapping a towel around our waist when we walk around. Some of us will even rely on unsafe practices to “get ready”, such as restricting, over exercise or purging, learned from magazines or college campuses.
Bathing suit anxiety is rooted in the combined fears of exposure and judgment. You can’t hide in a bathing suit the way you can in other clothes. You’re completely exposed to lots of different people at one time, most of whom we think look better than we do. Also, as western notions of beauty continue to emphasize a slim, toned and big breasted physique, few of us look like the women found on the pages of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Furthermore, since bathing suits become more and more revealing as time goes on, we feel even more exposed and vulnerable.
Alleviating bathing suit anxiety can be hard but not impossible. Like getting on an airplane even when you have a fear of flying, you need to just put a bathing suit on and go outside. In adopting a more radical, activist approach to bathing suit wearing, we create a new context with which to view our bodies and interact with the rest of the world. Why shouldn’t all of us have fun, be cool and enjoy the outdoors?
Once in a bathing suit, remind yourself of why you’re wearing a bathing suit in the first place. Try to be in the moment. Unless you’re a swimsuit model, a bathing suit is meant for swimming and enjoying the outdoors. What you look like in it should not be more important than being active, enjoying the weather or having fun with your friends at a pool party. Furthermore, how we feel about ourselves on the inside has a tremendous impact on how we look. If you walk around the pool or beach wrapped in a towel every time you stand up, people will notice your discomfort and may even start to scan your body for its flaws. But, if you walk around with your head held high, feeling how you really want to look, people will see your confidence and little else.
Life’s too short to miss out. Take a dive. Get in the pool. The only thing you really need to worry about is not forgetting the sunscreen.
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