There is No Such Thing As a Bikini Body

Writer Dodai Stewart at the always sharp, funny Jezebel has an apropos article, There is No Such Thing As a Bikini Body:

If you read tabloids or ladymags, pay attention to advertising campaigns, or happen to live on planet Earth, you know that the one thing women are supposed to strive for — more than a functioning body, a healthy body, or a strong body — is a bikini body.

Catherine Saint-Louis examines this phenomenon for The New York Times, and finds that in advertising, from yogurt to lotion to 100-calorie "snack packs," the bikini is a symbol of victory, a goal, and a fear motivator. She also discovers that decades ago, when the bikini was invented (and even when it gained popularity) women didn't feel they had to lose pounds — or even wax intimate parts — to sport a two-piece.