I have been on this “beautiful journey into aging” for almost 3 years now. When I started AndBloom, I was 42, and today I am nearly 46. I learned a lot along the way from the women I met that shared their life stories with me.
I learned more about myself. I have come to see and appreciate my body much more in many different ways, the changes it underwent and undergoes. I have also learned that the world has an even more distorted view of beauty and aging than I eventually thought. Most of us really prefer to look young, slim, and/or beautiful role models. When it deviates from the ideals, we turn out to like it less, as seen in the sometimes significant differences in likes on the various portraits of the women I post here on AndBloom.
Today a swimwear self-love selfie. Something I couldn’t have imagined posting of myself even a year ago. In recent weeks I have photographed several women in bathing suits as part of the coming summer (here in the Netherlands). Picture-taking is what I do, and I do it to inspire women. A female follower asked me privately, why not posting women in bathing suits with bigger sizes? An excellent question. Where are all those kickass plus-size over 40 women? The ones that accept their bodies and want to join this community with a picture in swimwear to present body diversity?
And I have a vague sense that society’s criticisms hinder these women from showing themselves freely; correct me if I am wrong.
By now, I have a relatively large network, although, of course, I am bound to the Netherlands due to Covid and because I live here. Long story short, it is not easy to find women over 40 and a plus clothing size that agree to pose in swimwear. With some exceptions, it is not something that many women want to commit to; it is already daring without the swimwear aspect.
All this makes it challenging to build an age-positive community for all women (big, small, fat, thin, color, and age). And I have a vague sense that society’s criticisms hinder these women from showing themselves freely; correct me if I am wrong.
And why in swimwear, you might ask? Because it personally bothers me that the versatile female body, as I see it every year during the summer, isn’t represented in swimwear ads. Of course, I am asking way too much, but that’s why I push boundaries. A swimwear brand naturally sells its brand best on perfect young bodies. But who still has a perfect body after a certain age when it’s no longer young, and been through so much (I know they are there, but not as much as the bodies that carry life traces)? And, of course, what does looking perfect actually mean? We all know that our body changes through age, having children, (peri-)menopause, etc. No need to deny that.
I portray women past 40 to normalize aging. Occasionally I portray women in swimwear, preferably, even though it is difficult to find, in different ready-to-wear sizes. By showing, I think, can we normalize body types? And as I write this, I realize that it could well be a request to women who are proud of their bodies? Drop me a mail if you want to collab and can come to the studio.
When I walked around on a Dubai beach last week, I saw many beautiful women with fabulous bodies in even more stunning swimwear. But I saw more women’s bodies that, if we adhere to the beauty standards of the current media image, were not so perfect (and again, what does that even mean). As I mentioned earlier in a post on my Instagram account, I love to grow older and feel confident with my own imperfections. I wouldn’t want to be 25 again. I had that perfect body back then and felt terribly unhappy and insecure about it. Bye Bye those days and they are never coming back, fact.
Our society sets such unrealistic beauty standards that we almost forget what a woman’s body often looks like in reality. When I spend a day on the beach, I see women with unique bodies. Women with different bodies but also very much the same features. Bodies with cellulitis on bellies and legs. Bodies with lobes, sagging skin, scars, spots, dents, and holes. Bodies with bellies, boops that hang, and hair on places it never grew before. And, without a doubt, the beautiful, nearly perfect bodies too. And that diversity, the one you see in our colorful society, should also be seen in the media. I am afraid, we have a long way to go.
Me in a bathing suit this time, whether you think my body is beautiful or not, it doesn’t matter because this is my body, and I’m happy with it. How crazy would it be not to love your body because it isn’t up to perfect beauty standards?
