In my → #BeachBodyNotSorry series, I wanted to do something more experimental and sensual. Experimental especially in terms of make-up – I really miss doing creative stuff, so I took the chance and did something different for this rather simple “outfit”. Of course, the focus is on my beach body too – this time, I’m wearing an absolutely normal bikini. Actually, we could have shot a few pictures without the top, but as this was my styling idea for the shooting, I totally forgot to do it. Anyways, you can see what’s underneath, and this time I’m showing even more than in my → Kimono post.

I’ve been thinking about why I’m doing this series and came to the conclusion that the main reason is to share pictures of a normal body. I don’t even know since when image processing exists. But it’s been far too long that we’ve only gotten to see photoshopped pictures. Pictures of beautiful women that shouldn’t be retouched. Women who have “flaws” like us. The media want us to forget what actual bodies look like and to feel ugly when we first look at their pictures and then have a look in the mirror. They want us to believe that we’re not good enough, that we have to change to be a better version of ourselves – to be beautiful. Thinking about this makes me angry and I’m even more upset when I remember that so many women really believe in what our society says. Truth is: the models may be thinner, fitter and their skin firmer, but they’re not “perfect” at all. First: perfection is relative, it’s defined by us all individually. Second: half of it (and “it” being what we see in magazines and so on) is a lie. I remember seeing a video online where someone used Photoshop to change the picture of a pizza slice into a sexy and skinny woman – even though it might be a joke and not real, the power of such programs is infinite. Third: not everyone’s a model.

What we need is more unretouched pictures. We need to see bodies as they are. With stretch marks, cellulite, scars, asymmetrical boobs, pale skin and any so-called “imperfection”. It’s not wrong to have flaws – it’s wrong to believe that we’re supposed to be flawless and call ourselves ugly!

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