BlogHer - The Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos - Comments

Slayer in Swimsuit!

Angelohara — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:56:33 -0500

I was so inspired by this post and by Queen of Spain, I joined in :)

http://slayerintraining.blogspot.com/2007/09/swimsuits-for-blogher.html

It's from 2 years ago, and only half of me, but I don't often let myself be photographed in a swimsuit ;) Thanks for giving me the courage to show this photo!

Angel
headacheslayer.blogspot.com
slayerintraining.blogspot.com

Hurray! Keep the pictures coming!

Suzanne Reisman — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:42:54 -0500

After the Glamour/America Ferrera debacle, we need these pictures more than ever. If you post your picture on your own blog, please tag it "swimsuit brigade" and/or link it here so that you are counted!

Everyone looks awesome in their own skin!

Suzanne Reisman, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Ran

You Ladies Rock!

ExpectingExecutive — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:51:10 -0500

It is soooo important to love your body. I try to keep in mind that while many of my "parts" may meet with my unrealistic ideal, there are so many who would give anything to be able to use or replace missing or paralyzed parts.

We are all lovely, fortunate women - me thinks!

Have a great weekend!

Erin
ExpectingExecutive - Helping Women Manage Life's Details

Finally

Erin Kotecki Vest — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:25:56 -0500

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Finally did it!

debra roby — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:46:30 -0500

Finally got a photo of me in my current swimsuit online.

http://flickr.com/photos/darinhercules/1225638040/
(the photo is strangely stretched when uploaded here). It's stretched out and needs to be replaced (the excess is tied behind by back), but still looks OK. BTW, is there a tag to use on Flickr for these?

I LOVE the tankinis that Land's End makes. They fit real women's bodies. Yes, I ordered 4suits today to try on in the comfort of my own home to replace this one.

And I blogged it here!

Debra
A Stitch In Time
Deb's Daily Distractions

or sight

Erin Kotecki Vest — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:43:33 -0500

wow. too much web-surfing today

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

I broke my camera

Erin Kotecki Vest — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:43:08 -0500

Ok, it wasn't the site of me in a swimsuit..but I'm working to fix a dropped camera. Stay tuned.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

Yay grass roots!

Suzanne Reisman — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:18:50 -0500

I'm so excited and touched that everyone is participating in some way! This is great.
Don't forget to tag your post Swimsuit Brigade so that technorati and other sites pick it up!

Suzanne, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Rants

I tried

super des — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 14:30:28 -0500

I put on my swimsuit and.... it was far too small. No wonder it took me 1/2 an hour just to get it on. So no picture from me :( though I did still post as an advertisement to others to participate

(Here's the link.)

OK, I'm in.

avengingophelia — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:47:26 -0500

This is an old picture, but not that much has changed, and I really wanted to participate. I'm so proud of all of us!

Snort! Freudian slip!

Birdie Jaworski — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:37:30 -0500

That's too funny, Liz!!! Well, I took a full body shot (WITH suit, NO Skirt, ha ha) and will be blogging it this week once I"m home from my teacher's retreat.

Birdie
Birdie's BlogHer Blog
La Pajaro

This is the REAL THING

Danette — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:33:08 -0500

How many times do we turn on the TV or open a magazine and have all these beautiful bodies staring back at us? But honestly, how real are they? As the posts attest to, without all the airbrushing, cosmetics, wardrobe (or lack of it) and fuss, these young girls/women wouldn't be nearly as glamorous.
At least we have our self worth, our dignity and for many of us, happiness in our lives. We are all fabulous in our own way, with something special inside of us, and as long as we realise this, we will accept ourselves as we are.
I think you are so brave Suzanne for donning the swimsuit and taking your picture to post here, and if I had one, I would join you. My excuse? It is winter here in Sydney, Australia and my swimsuits are all packed away until Summer approaches. I could post one in my daggy trackies which would cause just as much a stir.
You go girl, and yes, I too have jumped on your bandwagon.

Absolutely...Fabulous at 40
Cheers
Danette
www.fabat40.com

Thin isn't in

Denise — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:50:58 -0500

Talk to any really thing teenage girl or young adult and she will tell you she hates wearing a swimsuit as much as anyone else. It's just as troubling to me.

Bah.

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High & Flamingo House Happenings

Truth, lies and ads

snigdhasen — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:58:47 -0500

Hey S! Thanks for responding :)

While I agree with your thesis that "models don't speak for us", I think they aren't even trying to. They are speaking for the product they are selling. Period. Companies need to make their products look "good" and they'll do anything to make that happen, air-brushing, camera angles, et al.
The problem arises when people start internalizing what they see, and believe them to be true. I think the way to tackle this is to expose them. Which is where your campaign can be very effective. When a model wears a VS bra, it IS about the bra. When I buy the same bra and wear it, it becomes about me :)
As for me, I am a health-first kind of person. My tagline to your campaign: Do not let anyone define beauty/body types for you. Simply put, there are no standards (except health) for us to live up to.

All women are welcome

Suzanne Reisman — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:19:12 -0500

Hi Snigda,

This is definitely not meant to be one of those backlashes against skinny women. Many super thin women wind up having butts and chests airbrushed onto them to make them fit a standard, just as non-thin women get airbrushed down. The point of us this is that real women don't look airbrushed, models tend to look only one way, and there are many, many types of real women out there. Let's see the full range of women, proud of themselves.

Suzanne

Suzanne, BlogHer Contributing Editor - Feminism & Gender
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS)& Other Rants

The Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos

Suzanne Reisman — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:38:53 -0500

A few months ago, I launched a lame protest against the unattainable beauty standard set by the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I was way too wussy to actually pose in my underwear, though, so I made a duct tape version of myself. Duct Tape Suzanne didn't really capture all my bulges, but she did a good enough job demonstrating that people with B cups don't explode out of bras.

Recently, a number of celebrity airbrushing and other retouching incidents have come to light. Catherine Morgan put a nice photo montage of some of the incidents on her blog; Rita Arens described the photoshopping of young pageant girls on BlogHer, and D Listed puts up all sorts of “before” and “after” photos of the famous and retouchingly “beautiful” on his site. Every year, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition contains women airbrushed to the hilt.

With all the airbrushing out there, I wonder why models are even needed any more. Magazines, advertisers, and the fashion industry could save tons of money by hiring shlubs like me at a low rate, then painting a new face or body on the picture since they are already more or less doing so. That said, I am fed up. Other than the Dove Real Beauty campaign, which depicts "normal" women of a variety of body types and ages in order to sell lotion, there are very few public images of just us regular ladies. In fact, it seems that the availability of photo “improvement” software is leading women to increasingly despise themselves so much that they request airbrushing of every day pictures before they put photos on their My Space profiles or elsewhere on the internet. Laurie Ruettimann titled her hilarious post on corporate photo IDs, “I’m So Much Prettier When I’m Airbrushed”, and a lot of women seem to believe that’s true. Why just be you when you can be you minus 10 years, 10 (or more!) pounds, and all traces of personality?

Enough is enough. Let's fight back by reminding people that there is nothing wrong with flab, wrinkles, and character. I’m taking the first step. While generally I regard myself as a person with an average physique, thanks to the constant onslaught of unrealistic images that assault me every day, I tend to hate my appearance. Bathing suits? Suzanne Reisman Enemy #1. If I really want to get out the message that it is OK to just be yourself, I need to accept who I am and what I look like. (Deep breath.) Here's what I look like in my new Gottex Blue bathing suit:

Am I mortified at how chubby I look compared to other the swimsuit pictures I see? Yes, but it is me. I shouldn't feel ashamed at not being perfect. I'm not going to any longer, and neither should anyone else. Join the Swimsuit Brigade for Honest Photos (or give me a better title; this one seems a little heavy-handed, no?) and stand up for normal women. Post a picture of yourself online in your swimsuit (The Sewist beat me to this idea two months ago; she looks great.) and place the link in the comments. It may not be a billboard in Times Square, but it’s a start.

Models don't speak for us, and airbrushed ones even less so. Let's represent ourselves.

Suzanne also blogs against the dominant beauty paradigm at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants A small portion of this essay is cross-posted there and includes f-bombs