Munroe Bergdorf: a beach, body and swimsuit are all you need to be ‘beach body ready’

Jul 09 2019
Written by Vic Parsons

Munroe Bergdorf in a Bluebella swimsuit. (Bluebella)

Transgender model and activist Munroe Bergdorf has shared a powerful message promoting body positivity and criticising the damaging messaging around being “beach body ready.”

In an Instagram post, the 31-year-old campaigner said that advertising selling us the dream of the perfect beach body is “so damaging.”

“I know I’m not alone in saying that I’m someone who has had a complicated relationship with their body, especially during the summer,” she said.

“Personally, the beach has always been a difficult space to navigate,” Bergdorf said.

“I spent so much energy trying to hide my body, that I forgot I deserve to enjoy it… My weight fluctuates. I have self harm scars. I’m transgender. I get cellulite. But I deserve to feel the sun and sea on my skin during summer as much as anyone else!”

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I know I'm not alone in saying that I'm someone who has had a complicated relationship with their body, especially during the summer. Advertising selling us the dream of the perfect beach body is damaging, especially when we as women come in an endless array of shapes, sizes, and abilities. Personally, the beach has always been a difficult space to navigate. I spent so much energy trying to hide my body, that I forgot I deserve to enjoy it… My weight fluctuates. I have self harm scars. I'm transgender. I get cellulite. But I deserve to feel the sun and sea on my skin during summer as much as anyone else! I refuse to let other people's judgments of my body become how I see myself. As far as we are concerned there are just three things you need to have a “beach ready” body this summer. 1. A body. 2 a swimsuit and 3. a beach. Which is why I’m proud to support the @bluebella #Loveyourself campaign wearing my gorgeous Bluebella swimwear. #ad #swimwear @bluebella #bluebella #swimwear #selfworth

A post shared by ＭＵＮＲＯＥ ?? (@munroebergdorf) on Jul 8, 2019 at 3:56am PDT

Bergdorf’s message to women is that they need three things to be “beach body ready” this summer: a body, a swimsuit and a beach.

Munroe Bergdorf in a Bluebella swimsuit.(Bluebella)

Bergdorf posed in Barcelona for Bluebella’s new range as part of its #LoveYourself campaign.

Bluebella founder and CEO Emily Bendell said, “We love seeing Munroe looking so confidently beautiful in Bluebella swim on her recent beach trip.

“As Munroe so eloquently tells us, all women, whatever their age, shape or gender identity, should celebrate self-love on the beach this summer.

“You don’t have to do anything to be beach body ready apart from getting to the beach. That is what #LoveYourself is all about.”

Munroe Bergdorf dropped by Childline

Bergdorf said that “transphobia” was to blame for Childline giving her the axe and for the end of her working relationships with L’Oreal and Labour.

“It’s not just me. This happens to every single trans person that speaks about what we need as a community, how we need to push forward as a community and why what we’re being given is not enough,” she told the BBC in a video released on June 11.

“Being a trans person in the UK at the moment is like being a second class citizen.”