This Picture Of A Woman In A Bikini Is Going Viral For The Best Reason Possible
When Rachel Hollis posted this photo of herself wearing a bikini to her Facebook page, she made us all think about how we judge a woman’s body.
Hollis, 32, had just completed her first Los Angeles marathon a few weeks ago. She decided that her body was never going to be in better shape and it was time to share what she looked like in a bikini.
After taking “100 photos”, she decided that her “posey, pretty” shots just looked too awkward. While she had some thoughts about cropping out her stomach, she quickly decided against it after realising, “This looks pretty good.” Millions of people around the world agree.
Her message struck a chord with people around the world, racking up more than 10 million views. Hollis told Cosmopolitan, “I’m totally humbled by everyone’s reaction.”
Messages flooded in from supportive mothers, who could relate to Rachel….
But, it’s not just women who have been reaching out.
“There were so many men who said, ‘Whenever I see such marks, I’m reminded of what she did for us,’” Hollis said.
“Or a lot of guys who said, ‘Just so you women know, we don’t even notice that in the photo. We just see a girl on a beach, so stop second-guessing yourself.”
“Women want real,” Hollis told The Huffington Post.
“They want to see things that are aspirational but it needs to be tempered by the truth. It’s fine to show lives on social media with blown out hair and cute outfits but we need to be honest about the hard stuff as well. The truth makes us feel like we’re not alone . . . the truth makes us think ‘Me Too! I feel that way too!’”
Some times, the media fails to realise that age, gravity and parenthood catch up with everyone eventually. Saggy bodies are inevitable, no matter how hard you try to stave them off – but that doesn’t make them any less beautiful. All bodies are beautiful.