‘Every Woman’s Body is a Beach Body’: Here’s How the Spanish Government is Promoting Body Positivity

When we talk about unattainable standards of beauty (which are more prevalent than we realise), the concept of the “bikini body” is right up there. No matter how much you work out and diet, the only person (or thing) that has the perfect beach body is Mattel’s Barbie. And that’s how it’s supposed to be. We need to leave these unattainable standards in the past and celebrate all kinds of bodies. Sounds like a motivational bumper sticker, doesn’t it? But it’s a crucial message that needs to be relayed over and over again. And in a bid to do just that, the Spanish government has come up with one of the most creative campaigns yet. It encourages women of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach with the slogan, “Summer is ours too”.

The campaign’s colourful poster features 5 women of different ethnicities and with different body types enjoying a day at the beach. This campaign was launched by the Spanish government on Thursday with the aim to help women combat the social pressure women feel to conform to unrealistic beauty standards. The Ministry of Equality tweeted, "Summer is for us too. Enjoy it, however, wherever and with whoever you want. Today we raise a toast to a summer for every woman, without stereotypes and without aesthetic violence against our bodies." 

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This campaign takes a jab at all the ads that feature perfectly airbrushed women with the quintessential “bikini bodies”. And considering we live in a world where our expectations are formed by social media (where nothing is ever what is seems like), we need more body positivity campaigns like this one to undo the damage that has been done. Ione Belarra, the leader of Podemos who serves as social rights minister in Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government, said, “All bodies are beach bodies. All bodies are valid and we have the right to enjoy life as we are, without guilt or shame. Summer is for everyone!”

We can only hope that more governments follow suit!