“I am a surfer and my swimsuit is my uniform.
I’ve never felt the need to photoshop my pictures because I am comfortable in my body. Maybe it is because I am always in a swimsuit and it is just natural for me but I think it is because I don’t spend hours in the gym killing myself, or starving myself or more importantly, I don’t compare myself to other women and their shapes and sizes. If I did, I would end up obsessing over things that don’t matter, like whether I am too muscular, It would be an endless cycle of disappointment and everyone can get stuck in this evil, negative cycle. When we should really take that time to do more productive things for ourselves and each other. To live a happy and healthy life.”
“As a woman, I think one of the biggest threats against women is brought on by both big companies in their advertising, but more importantly and more dangerously by other women through their social media, with the aggressive retouching of photos.
We have to be aware that the social media isn’t real life and what we see is always through a filter. We also have to know who our audience is and that people are watching. We have a responsibility to send a positive message. We can’t give girls unrealistic expectations of what a body should look like, because a body really shouldn’t like anything other than what your body looks like.”
Post your unretouched swim photos with #AerieREAL & we’ll donate $1 (up to $10K) to the National Eating Disorder Association for every new share!