DIt goes without saying that the public beaches of this world offer all female bodies a place in the sun (or in the shade). However, not every woman finds her body beautiful enough to present it in a bikini on the beach. This is also due to the fact that women in particular are confronted with a flood of images of flawless, well-trained (Instagram) bodies in our media world, which is so powerful with images, that sow self-doubt and even make teenagers despair.
The Spanish Ministry of Equal Opportunities has therefore launched a campaign that wants to take away from women, in the spirit of the body positivity movement, their overly critical view of themselves. Equal Opportunities Minister Irene Montero wrote on Twitter: “Enjoy (the summer) however, wherever and with whoever you like.” Podemos politician and Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra added: “Everyone Bodies are beach bodies.” They posted a picture showing five happy women on the beach who couldn’t be more different: one woman is overweight, the other is slim, one is black and one is young. The oldest of the five beachgoers is topless on the sand and has only one breast left. The picture is captioned with the line: “The summer belongs to us too”.
Peak of absurdity?
The left-wing politician Cayo Lara, however, no longer understands the (campaign) world and dubs the action celebrated by many on the Internet as the “summit of absurdity”. “An attempt is made to create a problem where none exists.” Equal rights secretary Ángela Rodríguez Pam countered the criticism from the male side with the words: “There are some gentlemen who now say that we fat women are already allowed without the permission of the Ministry of Equality to the beach. Of course we can, but we have to put up with hate because we show bodies that don’t conform to the norm.”
The fact that there are no guards on beaches who appraise (female) bodies like club bouncers and raise or lower their thumbs depending on their mood and chest size does not mean that full-figured women on the beach are immune to discrimination. Hostilities and disparaging looks threaten not only from men, but also from women: women often judge their fellow women with a ruthlessness that is in no way inferior to male lust for blasphemy. Compared to the fitness cult celebrated on social networks, the body positivity movement is still a marginal phenomenon. With its beach campaign, the Spanish Ministry of Equal Opportunities is at least attracting more attention and a Spanish Twitter summer debate.