The Media - Pressure to be Slimmer for Summer

It's unfortunately that time of year again, when all the magazines and papers seem to be talking about bikini bodies.

I was recently browsing through one of the weekly celebrity gossip magazines when I found myself wanting to get up and put it in the paper recycling bin.

I started to feel annoyed when reading about a girl from a famous reality TV show. There was a photo of her looking lovely in what was obviously a bikini photoshoot, with text next to the photo quoting her saying that she has big boobs and big thighs and that she dislikes her nose, to name a few things. The magazine printed next to this that she is a size 8, along with her age.

If she really is a size 8, then I think the last thing that they should print is her moaning about how big her thighs are... This sends completely the wrong message to women and girls.

Everyone knows that the media are constantly shoving photographs of pretty and skinny female celebs in our faces - in a way it's old news. It's just what they do...it's the norm... it sells... it makes money... it's annoying!

Way to make us girls feel rubbish.. why do we need to see constant bikini photos of celebrity women taking a stroll in the sea or enjoying the sunshine on a beach? 

Then listen to them moan about the size of their legs whilst claiming to be a size 8?

This magazine was comparing lots of photos of celebs in bikinis by their age and clothes size.

In my opinion, these articles featuring perfect skinny ladies just subconsciously tell many of us "This is how you need to look. If you don't, men won't think your hot. You won't be up to date or fashionable...if you don't look like her in a bikini, then you don't look good enough."

Excuse me! Most of us have full time jobs, houses to look after/pay for, exams to revise for or children to take care of.  

It would be unrealistic for everyone to look like a perfect celebrity, as most people don't have time to go to the gym every day, or money to buy a pre-made healthy salad every lunchtime, or get chauffeured around in a private car that gives them time to organise their fitness schedule with a pricey personal trainer while someone else drives them from location to location.

No wonder it's hard for normal girls to look as good as famous celebrities!

I think that the ladies & gents who edit these magazines and choose the photos/write captions, etc, should look out for different and fresh positive ways to show us these celebrities. I know a 10 year old girl who genuinely worries that she is the biggest girl in her class at school. She is not in any way overweight.

We have learnt to worry about these things, and I believe that it's the magazines and papers that have taught us this.

I'm not saying ban celeb magazines - please do show us their outfits and how we can find a similar high street style for a cheaper price - but don't constantly show bikini photos and write things like "We are so jealous of her bikini bod".

In the grand scheme of life, how we look in a bikini should be low on our list of priorities. We should not have to feel that we will be compared to others. When I wear a bikini, it's to enjoy some gorgeous hot weather, go for a swim or have a fab day at a super fun water park (something I love doing!) ...Not to try and look like a hottie in the eyes of the other people who are sitting around the pool.

While it's lovely to feel good about yourself, we should be able to feel good regardless of minor details such as the shape of our legs.

I know that I would certainly prefer to enjoy myself, having fun and appreciating my lovely family, eating the occasional Domino's pizza with garlic bread or cooked breakfast and doing the things I love, rather than over-doing it at the gym every evening in order to be a skinny as possible.

Life is too short :)