Forget photoshop and the media, this is what a real woman looks like. Or is it…?
Bebe Rexha posted a picture of herself in a bikini showing the world what her body looks like unedited. Adding that she could have photoshopped it so that her stomach looked flatter or more defined but that she’s chosen to post it unedited to show “what a real woman looks like on instagram without photoshop”.
This is an important step towards being transparent about the use of photoshop but here’s where it gets problematic.
What is a “real” woman?
Speaking as someone who has never looked like Bebe, and having worked with many women who also look different I can tell you if it’s groundbreaking for a woman of her shape and size to dare to show her body in a bikini without photoshop then we have some work to do.
I must be clear, I am not body shaming her, nor am I downplaying the courage it may have taken her to post that image. Every woman of every size has, at some point, felt inadequate in her skin (which is a damn disgrace in and of itself).
But the fact remains that it’s socially acceptable for a woman of her shape and size to wear a bikini in public and it’s not an issue. The same cannot be said for all women, especially those who are for example a size 16, the average dress size of a woman in the UK.
Any woman who does not fit into a certain size of clothing, or who doesn’t have curves in the “right” places might look at models and store manikins and feel that she is not representative of what it means to be a woman – what it means to be sexy and attractive and accepted.
Why this is a problem
I have felt the negative effects of this type of media and I have worked with women who come to me who don’t have curves in places the media says they should and with tears in their eyes they ask me to help them look a certain way.
I am the woman who looked at images like that as a child and wished that I could look somewhere close to how she looks because then I would be happy.
How many other real women look at that image and think
“I wish that was me”
“I wish I could wear a bikini in public and feel confident”
“I wish I could be a socially acceptable size”
“I wish I could post pictures of my body online and not fear negative responses”
So what IS a real woman?
Do you identify as a woman? Then you are a real woman.
If we portray a “real woman” as someone who looks like a bikini model we are doing a disservice to all the other real women who don’t fit that body shape.
Taller women, shorter women, fatter women, thinner women, trans women and all the women in-between. We are all real women. And we are all worthy of acceptance without photoshop.
Ainzlie
