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Spanish government illustration: “Summer is ours too”
Despite the sweltering heat, some women don't dare to go to the beach because their bodies don't match the Baywatch ideal.
Too thick, too bulky, too wrinkled?
That should no longer exist in Spain.
The country's Equality Ministry has launched a campaign to encourage all women to be positive about their bodies.
"All bodies are beach bodies," tweeted Ione Belarra, Minister for Social Rights.
In addition, the left-wing Podemos politician posted a picture showing five women on the beach: They are young, old, fat, thin, white, black - and radiate happiness.
"Summer is ours, too," says the picture.
One woman in the picture is also topless, with a scarred chest.
It is intended to represent a woman who has had a mastectomy, i.e. the removal of a mammary gland after cancer, for example.
»Peak of absurdity«
The official Twitter account of the Ministry of Equal Opportunities writes about the campaign: »Today we toast to a summer for everyone, without stereotypes and without aesthetic violence against our bodies«.
The director of the women's institute, Antonia Morillas, said the expectations placed on women's bodies hurt self-esteem.
But not everyone understands the meaning behind the campaign, such as left-wing politician Cayo Lara.
"The pinnacle of absurdity," he writes on Twitter under the campaign image: "An attempt is made to create a problem where none exists.
It's not like this."
Ángela Rodríguez, Secretary of State for Equality, reiterated the problem for those men who claimed fat women could go to the beach without permission from the Equality Department.
"Of course we're going, but we expect to attract hatred for showing a body that doesn't conform to the norm," she wrote on Twitter.
The Ministry of Equal Opportunities recently made headlines because it is committed to ensuring that women with menstrual pain can get extra sick days and stay at home.
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