In some beachwear magazines, such as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, the "swimsuits" worn by the model Kate Upton are hardly "swimsuits" at all, but can be mistaken for outfits belonging to a porn magazine (some being nothing but body paint). Many people have in fact, noted this: Twitter points out the lack of swimsuits in Kate Upton's "Sports Illustrated" covers, and they're right.
Regarding these "swimsuits", popular TV host, Jimmy Kimmel has asked: “Is that really a swimsuit that you’re wearing? Because it seems just like a hammock that got torn to bits.”
A few of Kate Upton's "swimsuits" on the covers of Sports Illustrated.
The bikini, which has become popular in recent times, and is getting skimpier and skimpier with the incorporation of strings and thongs, aimed at exhibiting nakedness than cover modesty, was in fact launched by a French man named Louis Réard. By now, it has become normalized in various societies and young girls go through peer pressure to wear it in spite of many finding it embarrassing and uncomfortable. A model on Ted Talks has spoken about how she had never worn a bikini before she was asked to wear one for a photoshoot. In fact, there is a beauty ideal known as the "bikini body", with many young women feeling insecure about their bodies and wanting to achieve the "bikini body" in order to appear attractive in society's eyes. Some women dread wearing modest swimwear since it might denote an idea of having a flawed body. Many have also pondered about how this outfit, which is akin to a woman's underwear set, is accepted in society, while wearing underwear in public is considered inappropriate.
Utilizing the unquestioning acceptance of the bikini in modern times, mass media has used bikinis to sexualize women and objectify them for profit. There are voyeuristic shots of bikini-clad women in movies, for example the Fast and Furious franchise. Women in skimpy bikinis are also found on many magazine covers. In beauty pageants, women are put in bikinis and high heels, and made to strut onstage in front of a male-majority panel of judges. This is degrading to women and highly anti-feminist.
Women parading half-naked at a beauty pageant
The popular page AJ+ released a video on Facebook about Hollywood's disturbing objectification and sexualization of women with bikinis and suggestive shots in movie posters
The trend is also seen widely in video games, anime and other media which now portray women as warriors or other roles traditionally associated with men, but objectify them in skimpy outfits that make no sense. Female warriors in games such as League of Legends would appear in ridiculous revealing outfits while males are clad in full armor (College Humor released a video satirizing this issue).
In response to a question on Quora about why men's beachwear is modest and women's are skimpy, an eloquent answer is given by a user:
Beachwear for men is designed for comfort; beachwear for women is designed for sexiness.
The only set of organs that are different in men and women are the reproductive organs, which have a very specific, limited purpose. However, these organs define the entirety of women's identities- they define how women are perceived, and how women perceive themselves. Many women have internalised society's message of prioritising sexiness over comfort. Women's bodies are sexualised much, much more than men's. Beachwear has no innate connection with sex, but given the overwhelming association of women's clothing with sexuality and sexiness, every item of women's clothing is made more sexy than it needs to be. This includes beachwear. In most societies, men are seen as individuals, as autonomous human beings; sexuality is only a small part of men's identities. For women, sexuality is three-fourths of their identity. Women and men have similar life experiences- we have the same bodily functions...most societies treat women as mere sexual ornaments, while men are treated as whole human beings. I have never worn a bikini, but I imagine it's not particularly comfortable while you are wading into the water, or walking on the beach. Bikini-clad women are supremely conscious of the tiniest physical flaw that bikinis magnify- it quite defeats the purpose of relaxing on the beach.
While men wear modest, comfy shorts to cover their male parts, it has been made
the norm for women to wear skimpy, crude clothing that barely covers their nakedness
An image of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with his wife Priscilla Chan out surfing.
In fact, it is not just about swimwear, but we see sexualization in other types of female clothing as well; such as evening wear. While men appear in classy, well-covered outfits, we see skimpy evening wear being designed for women that is highly inappropriate and degrading.
Evening gowns on the red carpet, while men appear in classy, well-covered outfits
In Hollywood, we see a trend for female celebrities to exhibit nakedness as much as possible in functions and when performing on-stage.
This goes to show that girls need better role models to look up to, and better fashion trends that do not contribute to this sad situation where women are sexualized and objectified without them even realizing it.
