It was a great beach day, so I took my boys out of school (they are not missing much anyway), packed up the car and drove to the coast in Herzliya. We carried our stuff and settled down on several lounge chairs underneath umbrellas (I try to stay out of the sun to avoid wrinkles, aging and skin cancer). The beach was perfect, the sky was clear, the sand was white and the water, aside from the many jellyfish, was simply delightful.
After a quick dip in the Mediterranean, I sat myself down to enjoy the view, but I could not help but be distracted by the many - and I mean many - women strutting about in the worst possible choices of swimwear. I am not talking so much about design as about fit and style. When you need to put Vaseline on your limbs to squeeze in to something, or when you are in a bikini and much of your body is flowing over, I find myself gazing at these strangers and thinking: “you have made the wrong choice.”
Then I am always left with a Shakespearean dilemma: to stare or not to stare. Clearly, I should not stare - it is rude, not nice and if the woman sees me staring it will only make her feel great, as she will assume that she looks good, so by staring I am just reinforcing bad behavior.
I am all for great body image and for women feeling good about themselves no matter what size they are. But we all need to be realistic and make choices that are flattering and appropriate.
For tips on how to choose a bathing suit that will flatter, check out www.shine.yahoo.com/event/the-thread/swimsuits-that-flatter-every-body-type-471364/
