How Does The Summer Impact Our Body Image?

How we view our body is one of the most critical factors in our day to day lives, whether we realise it or not. Feeling confident in our outward body allows us to feel satisfied on the inside and, on the flip side, if we think negatively on the outside we do on the inside. In a world of social media, navigating our own growth has become increasingly difficult, but it’s not the only factor in impacting our body image. While there are various factors, we wanted to ask the question ‘how does the Summer impact our body image?’. Is this related to social media still? Are we purely affected by the warmer temperatures? So, we turned to you. Here is what you had to say.

‘Summer for me is the constant switching between feeling super confident, wearing flowy dresses and not letting insecurities impact my day completely, to being overly conscious of my body and constantly body checking. My relationship with my body and body hair etc has progressed immensely since last summer so I’m looking forward to this one!’

‘Up and down. Last summer I lost a ton of weight due to stress, and now even though I'm healthier, I’m having to tackle associating negative thoughts with the weight gain.’

‘I get extremely aware of my body, as I wear things that are more revealing, but not in a negative way, more like I'm almost surprised it's still there and it feels a bit like rediscovering it every summer, like an old friend you hadn't thought of in a long time!’

‘The rising temperatures make me sweating and uncomfortable so I rarely feel that confident in my body in those situations. I think we see so much more photoshopping of images on socials during Summer as people tend to show more skin, and that, even when you know it’s fake, still impacts you subconsciously.’

‘I love that I can wear all kinds of cute clothes and stuff. Bothers me is that I can never find a pair of shorts that fit me..it makes me insecure and it frustrates me every year.’

‘Existing in swimwear’

‘I love the fact that I can wear dresses and feel cute but also - since I've gained weight my thighs are every day burned, cause they stick to each other, rub, it really hurts and reminds me, that "when I was skinny" This didn't happen and It really makes it hard for me to even like myself... And it's a never-ending cycle of feeling good for some time, then my body aches and I am mentally tired’

‘Makes me angry af at my body for chafing and having POTS’

‘I’ve been trying to lose weight and the Zoloft I recently got back on has made it plateau and I can’t lose weight as easily now. I’m just super cautious and it makes me nervous bc I really don’t wanna gain weight again lol. Especially this summer.’

‘It needs a high SPF and a lot of it too.. It can get sticky and stain clothes and furniture. I get very aware of my body (fat and pale), but I try to find things I like to wear, do and spend time in the water.’

‘I love summer clothes but it's been a real struggle for me as I've only recently become confident enough to have my scars showing. Summer is always a struggle in that aspect bc I constantly worry that people are gonna see them/point at them/ask me unwanted questions which has happened several times and always makes me seriously consider wearing long sleeves and not going to the beach. So friendly reminder if you see someone with visible healed sh scars: do not ask them about it unprompted, we know they're there thanks’

‘I struggle so much with summer clothes and my body - while the rest of the year I’m able to stay “body neutral”, if not positive, summer clothes trigger an immense self distaste, to the point where I’m genuinely considering moving to a cold climate year-round. Hoping this summer, with increased mindfulness of what triggers me and clothes that not only fit but flatter my curves, will be better!’

‘I'm so looking forward to summer because I'm most comfortable naked/in swimwear. It's my biggest flex because I look really shit and hate running into people I know, but when it's just me or me and the family, I love it. I used to get lots of comments on social media about how brave and strong I was for posting summer pics from the beach and stuff though, so I stopped doing that. Rude.’

‘It’s not summer where I am but I went on a trip to the hot pools with my friends, all of whom are very tall and skinny and sporty, and I nearly had a panic attack because I was so worried about wearing my swimwear’

‘Being a small chested girl is harder in the summer months because you constantly see other girls in cute tops and showing cleavage and you feel like you don't look as good in those tops because you can't fill them out or get cleavage even with a push-up bra. The same goes for bikinis. I think about whether I should get a breast augmentation more times in summer than in the winter months and find it so much harder to feel comfortable and confident in my body.’