'Real Women'

The media has piped up once again since the rise of the #fatkini selfie and in some cases has dubbed the ladies posting the selfies as ‘real women’ and I have a bit of an issue with it (now, hear me out before you go off on one…). The fab women posting their #fatkini pictures are inspiring and I admire each of them for their self-confidence and let’s be honest, they all look great! Obviously my issue is not with them, but instead with the media and the term ‘real women’. This phrase depicts the ‘perfect’ woman as someone who is curvy and voluptuous.  As someone who has quite and athletic/ boyish (I don’t particularly like that term either for describing body figures) I can’t help but wonder if this means that I’m not a real woman? Does my lack of hips mean lack of femininity? Of course it probably seems that I’m over reacting, but I think the associations with the phrase should be changed! Because, of course, EVERY woman is a REAL WOMAN – tall, short, skinny, fat, athletic, curvy, hourglass figures, pear shaped, apple shaped, carrot shaped, WHATEVER!

 The media is so confusing with its portrayal of beauty. You aren’t beautiful if you’re not a 6ft tall, size 6 perfectly proportioned model, but you aren’t ‘real’ if you don’t have curves and a cracking rack – confusing much?! I could go on forever with my issue with the media and how shitty it can make us feel, with the number one culprits being crappy celebrity gossip magazines (“How dare ~insert celeb name~ allow herself to be papped wearing no make-up! Oh, the shame!” – YAWN!!)… I’ll save that rant for another rainy day…

Basically, I wish I had the body confidence of any woman who posts a bikini selfie. They all look fab, and anyone who says otherwise or criticises them need a quiet word with themselves. Keep up with your #fatkini and #bikini pictures ladies, and ignore stupid media and any tag they want to put on you.

What are your opinions? Am I overreacting? Should the media's or even society’s narrow minded views on beauty be tackled?