Woman Angers Social Media for Asking Why Cheeky Bikini Bottoms Are Trendy

Sabrina Rojas Weiss
Cheeky bikini bottoms.
Photo: @euphoriasummer/Instagram

There are some days when it seems like social media turns people of all ages into the neighborhood grouch who hangs around on the street, muttering complaints about everyone who passes by. This week’s grumbling comes from “Abbi,” a Twitter user who dropped a couple of short lines about the latest swimwear trend of high-cut bottoms that show off the lower half of one’s behind.

“Really wondering why it’s the in thing rn to wear thong bathing suits. Like does ur bf just not care that ur entire a** is out?” @Abbi3hain3s wrote. “But it’s obnoxious and disrespectful around families/children. I have a 1 and a half year old, I don’t want him seeing that.”

The tweetstorm these comments kicked up was so great that Abbi has since set her account to private. Luckily, the Internet provides, and we can still see some choice replies.

First, several people took issue with the idea of a boyfriend having any say in what his partner wears at the beach or pool. “It’s 2017. *most* boyfriends are proud of that a**. If they try to tell you what to wear you prob shouldn’t be with them,” Leah wrote.

Quite a few took this as an opportunity to show off just how proud they (and their significant others) are of their bodies.

Gretchen and others were not pleased with the idea of shaming people for what they wear. “Let’s hate on women who are confident in their bodies and don’t give a f*** what others think,” she wrote sarcastically.

Most disturbing, however, was Abbi’s use of her son as a reason to police what other women wear. To defend her initial position, Abbi reasoned that those disagreeing with her opinion would understand “when you guys have kids.” She added, “You’re all incompetent.” Of her own son, she wrote, “Don’t want him growing up thinking girls are supposed to have their a**es out when they go swimming.”

In response, Kells said, “Ur 1.5 yo ain’t gonna remember or care he saw a lil extra cheek at the beach.” To which Abs replied, “Seriously. and is teaching children to be afraid of the human body really the best idea in the first place?”

“I understand that maybe that woman feels like this is not the role model that she wants for her child, but she has the right to take her child elsewhere,” psychologist Barbara Greenberg, PhD, told Yahoo Style. “What we really should not be doing is shaming each other over the body. There’s no harm in a child seeing a woman’s body. What I would be more concerned about is that this child is getting the message that there is something wrong with seeing a woman’s body — that is potentially more harmful.”

Children pick up on much more than what their parents intentionally teach them, and if they see their parents judging other people’s bodies, they will too.

“We want to make sure that the message that’s transmitted to kids from a young age is that bodies come in all sizes and shapes, and we don’t want to start the pattern of judging bodies,” Greenberg said.

Not only does that pattern potentially lead to eating disorders in both girls and boys, but it causes psychological problems such as depression too.

“Most importantly it can lead to a lack of empathy and kindness toward others, which we seem to be forgetting,” Greenberg said.

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