Bikini Feminism

Last night the Pumpkin and I attended our first "Parent and Me" swim lesson.  I had a blast and Theo did not freak out, which is about what I was hoping for from his first time in a big swimming pool with lots of strangers around.  He even seemed to be enjoying himself by the end of the night, once he'd gotten used to things a bit.

So what does any of that have to do with feminism?  It's in the details, I guess.  Theo was wearing a new swim diaper with super cute swim trunks that we bought just for the lessons.  The trunks weren't really necessary, but I couldn't resist buying them when I saw them in our local Once Upon A Child (second hand kid's clothing store).  I was wearing an old racing swimsuit, as it was the only one that adequately covered by bust and butt.  It was two pieces, and so of course I was completely freaking out about it.  It showed off my pudge, my stretch marks, and my unshaven legs with aplomb.  But it was either that, or I wore one of my other two swimsuits, both of which are noticeably too small in quite inconvenient places.

Why is that feminist?  Because after my initial freakout, I felt pretty powerful.  I was breaking pretty much every rule of stereotypical feminine beauty, but I'll be damned if I wasn't totally rocking that damn suit.  The only downside is that it was designed with triathlons in mind, so it's padded in the butt.  Which is great when you're transitioning from swim to bike.  It's not so great when you're just hanging out in the shallow end of a pool with a baby.

Given that I still have quite a few pounds left to lose before I get into a healthy weight range, it felt pretty good to be able to forget about that and have fun in the water with the tiny human.  Am I going to change the world by wearing a two piece swimsuit? Yes.  Yes I am.  I've already changed my world.

Take care, friends, and I'll write again soon.