Comedian Em Rusciano has dished up the festive reality check we all need right now, that has nothing to do with achieving the “best beach booty”.
Taking to Facebook, the 42-year-old radio presenter wrote: “Hey ladies, I just wanna say to you all — wear the fkn singlet this summer.
“Seriously, none of this ‘women of a certain age shouldn’t’ or feeling like you can’t because maybe stuff wobbles. Set the pits free, air those clammy underarms out, you deserve to feel the cool breeze EVERY WHERE.”
She then added onto her original post, slamming the “bulls–t rules and expectations” around body image that women are expected to follow.
“Imagine if ALL of us just said F–K IT. To the bulls–t rules and expectations society places on a woman’s body,” Rusciano wrote.
“IMAGINE how powerful we would be…I’m so sick of the layers of shame we have to deal with! The next time you feel shame about wanting to wear something I want you to think of me, WWED (what would Em do) I’m your change room hype girl. I want you to feel comfortable, cool, free and YOU.”
Thousands of women responded with gratitude to the post.
One woman wrote: “I shall let my bingo wings flap in the wind”.
Another shared that she was finally happy to “lose weight slowly” and “do it for me”.
“I went to the beach with my husband and kids yesterday. I wore a swimmer dress. My tummy sags due to three C-sections (2 living babes) and I’m heavier than I would like. But I’ve come to realise my kids don’t care if my tummy sticks out or my thighs wiggle. They just want to play! I’m 35 and feel like I’ve spent the last 5 years covering up! I’ll lose weight slowly and I’ll do it for me.”
As we explored on the Women’s Health Project podcast last week, women face a myriad of expectations around how “fit” they should be and what that should look like. It can and does lead many of us to simply feel worse about ourselves, ultimately impacting mental health.
Women have worn the load of various pressures over the last two years. The last thing we need to be doing is adding more anxiety to the mix. Enjoy your Christmas, eat the pudding, and “wear the fkn singlet”.
Thanks to Em for cutting through the BS.