My hair is frizzier than ever, my jumper collection has been packed away and the sun is shining. It looks like summer has finally arrived on the little island of Ireland!

I am so excited to go to outdoor cinemas, to eat ice cream by the sea and to laze about in the garden with the La La Land soundtrack playing in the background. However, one thing I hate about the summer is the ‘summer body’ conversation.

There is a huge pressure on people to slim down and tone up before summer rolls around. Women feel like they need to drop a dress size to look socially acceptable in a bikini. Men feel pressured to visit the gym more frequently to buff up for the summer months. Now, I’m not saying that being fit is a bad thing. Being fit and healthy is something we should all be, but we need to remind ourselves that there is no such thing as a ‘perfect body’.

Mainstream media has tainted our views about how we should look. We have given the media far too much control when it comes to our thoughts on body image. Body’s come in all different shapes and sizes. It’s time to ignore the medias idea of what a perfect body looks like and start telling yourself that your body is perfect. You don’t need to be a certain size to wear a crop top. You don’t need to lose ten pounds to wear a pair of shorts. You don’t have to cover up your body because you don’t look like the woman on the cover of Vogue.

Everyone is self conscious about a part of their body, for me it’s my tubby belly and pasty pale legs, but I’m not letting that stop me from wearing my favourite floral skirt this summer. And you shouldn’t either.

We need to ignore this pressure and start to embrace body positivity. Never let someone tell you what you can and can’t wear. It’s your body, not theirs.

“The human body is the best work of art.”
― Jess C. Scott

Sincerely Yours,

Kat

Kat can usually be found at https://scribblesbykat.wordpress.com/ where she talks about books, mental health, coffee and the Gilmore Girls (same) or on twitter at @katkatkatt.