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How few asses hold a foreground. Neither by perimeter, nor by smoothness, nor by toning. Gisele Bündchen's and four others, probably all 'angels' of Victoria's Secret. Stop counting. The scrutiny of meat in the air, especially when there is a lot or it is placed where it should not, sharpens summer phobias. Street clothes are lightened, although for many the real terror is on the beach. Putting on a swimsuit, badly; in bikini, worse; In Thong, we don't even talk.

The reasons are written in the previous paragraph. The dictatorship of normative corporeality maintains that we have engraved the buttocks and their perimeter, whether they have a lot of meat, whether it is badly placed. An ass, like a body, should be an ass, nothing more; and a thong, a garment for all, for Gisele and for you (if you like).

More than half of Spaniards, self-conscious on the beach

But the reality is that, according to a survey conducted by Sigma Dos for YO DONA, 55.3% of Spaniards feel complex or insecure when shown in a bikini or swimsuit in public. If we look only at women, the figure is close to 70%. And beware, these embarrassments have made almost four out of 10 respondents have changed holiday destination to get rid of the dreaded unveiling.

However, inertia is evolving and plus-size women are leading the change. "This summer, at 39 years old, I finally embraced the thong. I want to put my ass in the sun," says Beatriz Romero, a political scientist trained in Gender and spokesperson for the inclusive portal Weloversize. "Plus-size women have gone from swimsuits to bikinis and from there to the thong. It has cost us, but it is no longer exclusive to perfect bodies," he says.

She points out that the democratization of this minimal garment has a lot to do with generational change and female empowerment: "I see 20-year-old girls with thongs, whatever body they have, and in no case do they believe that it is something subversive. They do it and that's it. It's wonderful. Diversity is much more normalized than when I was young and there were never clothes for me. That you want a thong or a top and there is in your size encourages you, because it means that you are not out. It's very liberating," Romero insists.

But much remains to be conquered. The political scientist clarifies that within the non-'normative' bodies there are abundances that are tolerated more than others. "Ass and tits, admitted; belly, no," he summarizes. That is, yes to show the kilos, but better if women have hourglass body. "My thong covers my belly. They are aesthetic pressures that we have installed and although I would love to teach it, I do not dare, "he resolves.

The "horrible" pant suits for large sizes

Noa Sánchez does not entertain herself with the euphemisms that you have read in this text. She wears size 50 and has founded the movement 'I'm fat, so what?', sustained around an online community that offers psychological support and also includes a 'plus size' clothing store. "I am an activist against fatphobia and I like to show my body. I like heels, stockings and bikinis, the smaller, the better," she says.

This 30-year-old from Madrid remembers what the swimsuits she wore as a child were like: "Horrible. They were trousers. I never wore others, let alone thongs. I wish I had crossed paths with a fat woman like the one I am now," he boasts. She grew up without references and without knowing that a thong is also for her. That's why she wants to offer, with her tattooed, hypersexy and provocative image, an example for those who feel like her.

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However, if the conquests were consummated, their activism would not be necessary. "In the community pool there were protests because I wore a bikini type 'culotte'. My daughter, a size 34, was wearing a thong, which teaches much more, and nobody said anything," she complains.

Networks as a tool for constructing 'curvy' identity

The Internet is contributing positively to the creation of 'curvy' references, by the exhibition of women who are proud of a physique that is supposed to be wrong. The researcher at the University of Seville Inmaculada Sánchez-Labella assesses in her article 'Visibility of non-normative bodies through Instagram: the self-representation of curvy models' (2018) how networks have been a vehicle for non-normative women to have built their identity around a new canon of feminine beauty. "The practice of the 'selfie' gives them control of self-representation through different poses, with which they exalt the value of their voluptuousness," he says.

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An ambassador like few of this that has come to be called 'body positive' is the American singer Lizzo, who does not hesitate to walk in a thong and show her "black and fat ass", as she proclaims, by beaches, concerts and social networks. In a national key, a few days ago the designer Vicky Martín Berrocal published on her Instagram profile a photo of her back with very short pants. He 'posted' that for the first time, just at age 50, he dared to show off his imperfections: "I have hated summer with all my strength, the swimsuit, the shorts, the pools and the beaches. And you can't imagine walking from the towel to the water..."

This process, that of bodily acceptance, is the field of work of psychologist Ana Morales. "For many women, putting on a thong means making peace with their own bodies, accepting that they deserve to feel sensual and beautiful, and challenging the limiting beliefs of 'I can't or shouldn't,'" she says.

Those barriers are in them, he says, but also "in the look of sorrow or mockery they find in the store when they ask for their size," he adds. Therefore, many prefer to go to the online market. It is clear, she says, "that making the decision to buy and wear a thong can be for many women a real obstacle course," she concludes.

  • Articles Mar Muñiz

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