wondering what y'all think of this huffington post article?

People get so hung up on celebs and whatnot, it's sad.

All of the pics in the slideshow look fine/normal to me. Except the one in the snow. That's not okay.

I think if a woman wants to rock a bikini, she has every right to do it whether she's my size, half my size, or double my size. We need to stop shaming other women for being too skinny or too fat or too whatever. IMHO.

I think more power to them! If you are happy with your body and comfortable in a bikini then go for it.

Tired of the whole "real" debate to be honest, don't think it's very fair to anybody.

Yeah I'm sick of the whole "real women are..." nonsense.

Tired of the whole "real" debate to be honest, don't think it's very fair to anybody.

This is how I feel. A real woman was born with two X chromosomes. /thread

comment about discrimination about trans* people /sarcasm

for me, since i started my mfp journey a year and a half ago, they all look beefy to me. that doesn't mean I think they should stay indoors, or change their clothes.. I think it's terrific they're comfortable in bikinis... I've been on the beach myself in gear I thought most suited to getting a great tan in-'inappropriate' as that may have been.. (not to mention nude beaches) but I really think they are thicker than they 'should' be... touting the way they look in bikinis as the norm and healthily acceptable is not the same as being comfortable in your body. Personally, I think they should diet, while maintaining that great, positive outlook and acceptance level they have.

Maybe someday you will have that level of self acceptance too, and show your pictures to the world.

I think it's great! That's what I see on the beach when we are on vacation, real women, real curves, real cellulite. Not those fake Victoria's secret bodies. Those are just not realistic. I think healthy, fit women have some body fat, and muscles. Not everyone is 5'10" and 115 lbs.

No need to bash VS models because they happen to be thin. Every women is real.

not when they're photoshopped to hell...

I'm kinda over the whole debate too.

Honestly, no one much ever shamed me for being fat or overeating. It's the socially acceptable thing now to be fat and fat-shaming is a huge no-no, possibly because so many people are overweight now. Obviously, I didn't want people to shame me for it, I knew I was fat. I don't shame others for it, I know they know and I know it can be hard to get it under control.

I would say at this stage I no longer consider myself "fat" in the aesthetic sense of the word. I'm not yet at goal but I'm feeling good at my current weight. NOW, however, it seems that being too thin IS a socially acceptable insult to give people. For the last 6 months, not one day goes by at work that someone doesn't loudly speak to me about my weight loss, how much more do I intend on losing, why so much more? am i ok? do i have serious body issues or something to want to lose more? Somebody give that girl a sandwich, Stat! Irritating. Would it be ok if I walked up to the fat women in my office and knocked their sandwiches out of their hands and called them fatasses? So I'm starting to seriously dislike the articles and whatnot out there about how 'real' women look like THIS. We're all real women.

My new tactic, by the way, is to loudly inform my coworkers of my current weight. That usually shuts them up. I'm 5,6 and weigh 170 and wearing an 8 or 10 in pants, depending on the pair. I'm in no danger of blowing away any time soon.

I think it's great! That's what I see on the beach when we are on vacation, real women, real curves, real cellulite. Not those fake Victoria's secret bodies. Those are just not realistic. I think healthy, fit women have some body fat, and muscles. Not everyone is 5'10" and 115 lbs.

No need to bash VS models because they happen to be thin. Every women is real.

not when they're photoshopped to hell...

Above poster didn't mention photoshop, they mentioned 5'10" and 115lb women, therefore bashing the models themselves. You can't photoshop a live fashion show, those women are "real" too

And I actually read a story on one of them who recently had a baby...she works out and eats properly, not starves herself. She might not have MY personal goal body type, but she's certainly not "fake" or anything.

I remember hearing people talking about how they thought football cheerleaders (professional teams) were all eating disordered cardio freaks...and then I watched that show about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders about their tryouts and saw that they lift heavy weights and do intense cardio...and eat yummy foods.

Haters gonna hate, I guess. But I wish they'd stop...

As I said before, this body shaming has got to stop. We seriously need to cut out this "too skinny/too fat/too whatever" bull crap.

Bikini ready is how you see yourself. before I had an image of myself, I used to look at models and fashion and thought that that piece of clothing would look on me just as it looked on them. Then someone mentioned how I didn't have an *kitten*, or how my legs rubbed together, and I haven't felt comfortable with me since. Those ladies feel comfortable in their skin and bikini time is really about hitting the beach, not looking good for an industry in which your living doesn't depend on it.

I thought in the context of this article "real" was referring to no photo-shopping, cleaver lighting or make-up rather than referring to the size and body shape of the women.

I think that you're right, and also perceptive. All of the women in the slide show appeared to have a healthy body type, BMI in the 20s, ranging from slim to moderately overweight. None of them were obese or emaciated.

Good to show normal - ie non-models - people smiling and enjoying their holidays. I agree about the snow/bikini - not ideal clothing! Fed up of the 'real' debate as well. Everyone is a different shape and size, being healthy is most important.

I would've preferred a semi-colon to a regular comma in the article: that's my opinion.

I found it annoying.

Only because there were a number of women not actually in bikinis. Kinda defeated the purpose, IMO.

I think we should stop giving a **** about what the media says is 'real' women and just love ourselves as we are.