Bathingsuit Season...Really?

Okay, here comes one of my feminist rants. Hold on.

At what point did we decide that every commercial for the summer needed to revolve around women losing weight to fit into that bikini? Really, Michael Vick? Really? And we wonder why we have so many issues in this country? I am all for healthy decisions. Eat right, be active, live well. (Yes, I need to practice more of what I preach on that, but still.) Good lord!

If you want to wear a bikini, fucking go for it. Being comfortable in your own body should not be overshadowed by some outlandish perception. Most of the commercials do not even show women who are close to looking overweight in the first place. Yet we are supposed to think that diet pills, branded diets, meal plans, detoxes, blah, blah, blah, are the only way we can look good on the beach?

Now some people may think I should enter the obligatory, "Where are the commercials about men losing weight to look good in those swim trunks?" But I do not want to go there either. No one should be made to feel like shit about themselves. Especially not by a commercial for Wal-Mart! (That could be a whole other rant for another day.) Get your diet needs cheaper...really?

We complain that Americans are too fat. We have so many eating disorders from anorexia to obesity in this country. How do these ridiculous messages on television help any of that? More than likely, they just push the disorders further, one way or the other. Did we not learn anything from Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly? Oh wait, I suppose that was one of the privileges of attending an all women's college.

Get over it people! Get off your asses and be healthy, but for the love of yourselves, be comfortable with who you are. Is it really a good idea to listen to the media that also plays commercials like the crap from Geico? I do not think so.