As a kid growing up in the late ’90s, I constantly felt self-conscious about my body. Diet commercials played 24-7 and trendy workout videotapes were in every household. It seemed no one around me was happy with their body the way it was, which taught me that there must be something wrong with my own body. Specifically, I was concerned about my round belly. I fantasized about waking up with a flat stomach and washboard abs à la Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. By 13, I was avoiding all my favourite snacks and doing stomach crunches in my bedroom every evening. I felt desperate to be thin. I criticized myself for years, when in fact, there wasn’t anything wrong with me. What was wrong was the message society was sending me: because I wasn’t a size 0, I wasn’t worthy of feeling beautiful or sexy.
It wasn’t until I was 25 that I even considered wearing a bikini in public, and that was all thanks to body-positive influencer Gabi Gregg, aka Gabi Fresh, who coined the term “fatkini.” I remember seeing one of her blog posts, featuring pictures of her in a beautiful retro-style bikini. I was in awe of how gorgeous she looked and thought about how liberating it would feel to bare my own belly in public. So when I was packing for a family vacation to Grenada, I shoved my first bikini into my luggage. I liked how I looked in it when I tried it on at the store. But when we arrived at our vacation rental, the idea of wearing it out in public suddenly felt very daunting. I was filled with hesitation. What if people stare? What if someone insults my body and my confidence comes crashing down?
I know I’m not alone in how I felt at that moment. According to a study done by Gillette Venus, one third of Canadian women feel uncomfortable being in swimwear in public* and 79 per cent of Canadian women have avoided swimwear due to being uncomfortable in it in front of others.* And it’s not just about our weight—a lot of women are self-conscious about body hair, which can also prevent them from strutting their stuff on the beach. While, 90 per cent of Canadian women shave when they anticipate having to put on swimwear*, whether you choose to remove hair or rock it au naturel is up to you. Others’ opinions should never keep you from living your most liberated, confident life.
The day I finally wore my bikini to the beach, no one batted an eye. In fact, a stranger told me I looked beautiful. It turns out you don’t need a special diet or workout secret to have a beach body. The only things I need today are swimwear that makes me feel sexy, protective SPF and skin-loving Venus products. The Venus range is perfect for any body with or without hair since it’s all about loving the skin you’re in and taking good care of it.
It’s been 10 years since I discovered the body positive movement and found the confidence to rock any type of swimwear, and sadly, diet culture is making a sneaky comeback. But I refuse to go back in time. Join me and Venus this summer in ripping up the old-fashioned rulebook. Want the ultimate beach body? Grab a cute swimsuit, slap on some SPF and grab the Venus products that make you feel comfortable in your skin. There you have it—you’ve got a beach body!
Shop for Gillette Venus at GilletteVenus.ca.
*Methodology: From May 1 to May 5 2023, Gillette Venus conducted an online survey among a representative sample of 1,007 Canadian women ages 18-34, balanced and weighted on age and gender. All respondents were members of the online Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
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