like
roses
I
show
my
hips
in
autumn
and
am
not
the
preferred
form
because
who
doesn’t
love
that
hearty
heady
scent
of
the
summer
bloom
like
roses
I
show
my
hips
in
autumn
and
am
not
the
preferred
form
because
who
doesn’t
love
that
hearty
heady
scent
of
the
summer
bloom
Someone’s telling me how to dress again
They say my boyfriend doesn’t like the way I do my hair
Or the clothes I wear
And that my skin isn’t quite right
Too oily, too dry
That I have to buy something new
To make me look like you?
They’re teaching me how to get my best angle
To make my bum look bigger
And my waist smaller
And they’re telling me I’m not good enough
And that I need to change
So that the person who I thought already loved me
Can love me again
It is impossible to avoid Love Island this year, as much as I have tried and succeeded over the last couple of seasons. If it’s not on your TV it’s on social media, or the news, or in the magazines, or someone is talking about it on your bus on the journey home. I decided to take the plunge and find out what everyone has been raving about. 1 minute 23 seconds in to the first episode and I can’t go on. I have seen more unsolicited skin in that time than I have in the last month. I’d heard the rumours, but never quite expected it to be so, let’s say, in your face.
Oh and of course there’s the token ‘fatty’, who can we just highlight is not in the slightest bit overweight. How can a normal looking guy look so abnormal? His body is better than most men but sat next to the testosterone-infused six-packs that form the majority of the male population of the show, he looks almost ‘chubby’. Find the anomaly seems a much more suitable game for this show, than girls squashing watermelons with their bums.
All in all, it just feels like another programme that perpetuates an unobtainable ideal that the average person can never reach. I went to a talk the other day where a man spoke candidly about social media. He asked the audience: ‘How many times do you put down your phone after scrolling through Instagram and actually feel good about yourself?’. The answer for me, and most others in the crowd, was ‘rarely’. That’s not right. After this, I unfollowed all the fitness inspiration accounts, the Victoria’s Secrets models, the bikini brands, and the reality stars with their pimped-up body-parts and glam squads. What was left was a stream of art, architecture, photography, travel photos, and friends. It was cleansing. I’d recommend it.
Who knows, maybe I’m speaking on behalf of thousands of hushed voices, or maybe I’m just another insecure girl who’s jealous and doesn’t know how to handle it…