Amayzine

Most read: An ode to Vivian, Rianne, Marieke, Miljuschka and to you

Most read: An ode to Vivian, Rianne, Marieke, Miljuschka and to you 

Because you probably haven't been able to read everything due to quarantine, lockdowns, and press conferences: this is one of our top scorers of the year. Grab the wine, truffle cheese, and your blanket, and enjoy reading back. Or cookies and chocolate, that’s fine too, of course.


The sweetest message on Instagram this weekend goes to Vivian Hoorn, who shared how one of her followers came to say thank you on the beach of Noordwijk. Thank you, because she finally dares to be who she is in a bikini because Vivian shows it. I found that beautiful and I recognized myself, because I have this too.

I am not a size 36, never was and never will be, I dare to say that now. Anyway, I find it strange that you are a size. I have (really big) breasts, I have hips, I have a nice little pinch on my back (one on each side, sometimes more), I am at least two kilos heavier when I am on my period and I still don't dare to do what Vivian, Rianne, Marieke or Miljuschka do: show that every woman's body is beautiful and every weight is good, in any shape. With or without breasts, with or without hips, with or without calves, with or without upper arms, with or without a belly.

This morning Marieke shared a message that she was approached by a weight loss product to lose corona kilos (?). Something she reacted to sharply on Instagram. Because indeed: who is someone else to determine whether you should go on a diet?.

View this post on Instagram

I am going to do something here that I don't do very often, namely share my frustration. My management regularly receives requests from brands that want to collaborate. Ambassadorship, partnerships, whatever you want to call it. In almost all cases, I decline. Sometimes a brand fits well with me and I go for it. Among the requests last week was an email from an agency looking for ambassadors for a well-known weight loss brand. I quote: “For a new collaboration, we are looking for people who want to take on the challenge of losing their (corona?) kilos. We see a good match with Marieke.” My manager knows me well and had already politely declined, but sent the request for my review. I read it, said: “No, indeed not for me” and clicked it away. But then I read it again and thought: “Wait a minute… this is actually not a nice text at all!” It states that I could lose some (corona?) kilos! The agency doesn't mean it badly and I stand pretty firmly in my shoes, but who are they to determine that for me? Now I am not against diets (on the contrary, I ‘Sonja Bakkered’ myself silly during my study time!), but actively sending the signal that my body is ‘too fat’, I don't see that happening. Especially not because I have a large reach. My body is strong and fit. I may not be ‘Hilversum slim’ and that's exactly where the strength lies. If we keep pretending that every woman should look like in magazines or on TV, we really send the wrong signal. To ourselves and to our children. You may think I'm too fat, just right or even too thin, all fine. I don't share this because I want to read ‘You are perfect’ or ‘You are beautiful’ below, I share this because I want to contribute to a more normal self-image among (young) women. Something I also struggle with myself. #bodypositivity

A post shared by Marieke Elsinga (@mariekeelsinga) on

I read this week about how consistently we are pushed a distorted beauty ideal down our throats. And that is exactly what we do not need and can very much miss. Mothers who never dared to wear a bikini on the beach as an example, being bullied in elementary school because you deviate from the average for confirmation, and women with an amazing body being judged based on ‘Hilversum slim’, as Marieke calls it.

Let's start by saying how beautiful women are. Because my god, I find Marieke, Vivian, Rianne, Miljuschka, and you each delicious beings.

Photo Marieke Elsinga: Instagram, photo Vivian Hoorn: Instagram, photo Miljuschka: taken by Olivier Thijssen,