Whitney Teal, writing in Clutch magazine, urges women of all sizes to rock a bikini this summer. In a list of five reasons, she addresses issues such as body image and ignoring haters.
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2) Because Even If You Don't Believe #1, You Don't Owe Us Beauty. Let's say, theoretically, that I'm wrong: Your body is not beautiful. It's ugly, it's misshapen, it is not, in any way, "summertime fine." Well, you should wear a bikini anyway. You don't owe anyone perfection or thinness or beauty. (Not that those three qualities are synonymous, anyway.) You don't owe it to yourself. You don't need to be striving or struggling or working towards some elusive, prescribed perfection, either. You can just be yourself and not have to hide. No piece of clothing is reserved for people possessing what Us Weekly deems a perfect body.
3) Because You Can Find One That Fits. It never occurred to me to wear a two-piece swimsuit before last year because the places where I'd go to find swimwear—Target, Forever 21 and run-of-the-mill department stores—didn't offer them in my size. Even if I could somehow fit the bottom, I need serious support up top, not just a couple of strings. For women who wear a size 12 or larger, or for smaller women with very curvy frames, online retailers are the way to go for bikinis.
Read Whitney Teal's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.
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