Shutterstock
According to a poll done by American fitness franchise Planet Fitness, one-third of Americans are so uncomfortable stepping out in public in a swimsuit, they’d rather go to the dentist instead. Was staying in the house not an available option?
After surveying 1,000 people this month, 33 percent of respondents made it clear that showing off their bodies in a itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie bikini is a major stressor. Around 46 percent of respondents admitted that they don’t feel confident about their body in a bathing suit, and a whopping 76 percent of people stated that they are a lot more critical of their own appearance in a bathing suit than that of others. In response to such results, Brian Zehetner, the director of health and fitness for Planet Fitness and the writer of Working Out Sucks (And Why It Doesn’t Have To), said that “People are often too hard on themselves when it comes to their body image, and it’s especially difficult for many during the summer and bathing suit season.”
Very true. Just this past April, Refinery29 shared the results of their own survey on body image called Take Back The Beach where they surveyed 1,100 of their readers. They found that 42 percent of women reported that they feel bad about themselves after they look at other people’s beach photos. And 60 percent of women who won’t take pictures on the beach said they weren’t here for it because it made them feel self-conscious.
So with all this data in mind, where do you stand in terms of being comfortable in a bikini on the beach? Are you okay with posing for pictures in a swimsuit and having them posted on social media? When you go to the beach, do you find yourself trying to cover up?
It’s definitely not the easiest thing to feel comfortable all out and about on the beach, but it’s sad to know that so many are allowing such anxieties to keep them from going altogether. While many of us say that we don’t have body image issues and that we’re comfortable with ourselves, it seems as though where we are at and who can see us determines just how comfortable we are.
