For those body shaming Abbie Chatfield, here are 64 photos of what 'bikini' bodies actually look like.

Since we last saw Abbie Chatfield on The Bachelor, the lady’s been busy.

Mostly, it appears she’s spent a lot of time at the beach and, by extension, in a bikini. One particular summer outing got all of us very excited because it involved some friendly frolicking in the white water with fellow Bach franchise alumni and runner-up, Todd King.

Wearing a lovely yellow and orange checked Lahana Swim bikini set and a smile on her face, the 24-year-old property analyst looked happy, relaxed and carefree.

Side note – here’s four steps to getting a ‘beach body’ that involve you simply taking your body to the… beach. Post continues after video.

Sadly, some faceless people on the internet thought otherwise. So much so, they went out of their way to offer their unsolicited opinion on the way her body looked in various paparazzi photos from that day in the comments section on news articles.

We’re not going to publish the actual troll comments, because they’re not worth the time it would take to type them out, but Abbie summed it up best in an essay she shared with her 100K Instagram followers.

“Here are some photos that were taken of me a few weeks ago on a day at the beach. I was in a new bikini that I bloody love, I didn’t bother fake tanning the night before and I was just having a good f*cking time. I look at these photos and think “doll, you should have gotten the Bondi sands out” but… it just looks like my normal body. Not going to frame these bad boys but I certainly didn’t cringe when I saw them,” she wrote alongside screenshots of the images and a small selection of the trolling comments directed at her.

“I was sent a link to a Daily Mail article with these photos. Out of curiosity, I looked at the comments…. Body shaming, Slut shaming, Sexism. These comments don’t necessarily affect me, it sucks to read, but I remember that I am grateful for my body and all that it does for me, and I move on. What really concerns me is that people who aren’t as comfortable in themselves as I am will read this and internalise the views of others.”

 

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Okay… I’ve wanted to go a week without a rant but this just never stops and if I see this behaviour and don’t call it out, I am complicit. Here are some photos that were taken of me a few weeks ago on a day at the beach. I was in new bikinis that I bloody love, I didn’t bother fake tanning the night before and I was just having a good fucking time. I look at these photos and think “doll, you should have gotten the Bondi sands out” but… it just looks like my normal body. Not going to frame these bad boys but I certainly didn’t cringe when I saw them. I was sent a link to a Daily Mail article with these photos. Out of curiosity, I looked at the comments. (Keep scrolling to see) and… Holy. Fucking. Shit. Body shaming, Slut shaming, Sexism. These comments don’t necessarily affect me, it sucks to read, but I remember that I am grateful for my body and all that it does for me, and I move on. What really concerns me is that people who aren’t as comfortable in themselves as I am will read this and internalise the views of others. I’m a size 8, I am the size that is SUPPOSED to be conventionally “attractive” (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN BUT OK). How the FUCK are people supposed to love themselves when people in the public eye of ALL sizes are being ridiculed for having normal bodies. I am at the end of my tether with this. STOP commenting on women’s bodies and debating whether or not we are ~allowed~ to wear bikinis. It isn’t your place. I’m a 24 year old who is healthy, happy and comfortable. Why does that irritate people? Let me live in my exercises-four-days-a-week-but-also-loves-carbonara rig and leave me in peace. Not for my sake, but for the sake of the mental health of the general public. Also, if you see this on the Internet or hear about it in person say something. I truly believe people feel it’s okay to say these things because they see others doing it and everyone around them remaining silent. Over it. I’ve lost sleep over this rage so I’m going to treat myself to another bikini that shows off my awful figure. ???????????????? Ps follow @i_weigh for more body positivity ❤️

A post shared by ABBIE CHATFIELD (@abbiechatfield) on Oct 13, 2019 at 8:38pm PDT

Abbie went on to explain she felt if she didn’t call this behaviour out publicly, she would be “complicit”.

“I’m a size 8, I am the size that is SUPPOSED to be conventionally “attractive” (WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN BUT OK). How the F*CK are people supposed to love themselves when people in the public eye of ALL sizes are being ridiculed for having normal bodies. I am at the end of my tether with this. STOP commenting on women’s bodies and debating whether or not we are ~allowed~ to wear bikinis. It isn’t your place.”

“Let me live in my exercises-four-days-a-week-but-also-loves-carbonara rig and leave me in peace. Not for my sake, but for the sake of the mental health of the general public.”

We too are in favour of eating carbonara (in fact, all pastas), but not with a side of body shaming. Frankly, we’ve had enough of this sh*t.

By ‘we’, we’re speaking on behalf of all women, because all of us, regardless of our size, have faced criticism about our bodies on some level. From others, but also from ourselves.

You can listen to Abbie speak further about how online trolling has affected her on The Spill podcast. Post continues after audio.

It’s for this reason we decided to ask the incredible women in our Mamamia community to share a photo of themselves in swimwear in an effort to normalise bodies.

The women in these photos are completely different. Different ages, sizes, ethnicities, and wearing different styles of swimmers. Some are taken at exotic locations or while on holiday, and others capture a regular day at the beach.

But every single woman in this post has two things in common. The first: we are united in calling out body shaming. We simply won’t stand for it.

And the second? Everyone looks happy, even if some of us looked back at our photo and grimaced.

So, in support of Abbie’s Instagram stand against body shaming, slut shaming, and sexism, here are 64 photos of women living their lives in their bathers.

Because sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded what bodies – ALL BODIES – in bikinis actually look like.

Oh, and the icing on the cake is this whole story coming full circle, with Abbie herself sharing a photo in her bikini, taken on the same goddamn day as those paparazzi pics.

Thank you to all the brilliant members of the Mamamia community who supplied their images and thoughts for this story. We see you. We appreciate you. You rock. And a big thank you to Abbie Chatfield. You also rock.

How does seeing all these incredible and different bodies make you feel? Tell us what you think in the comments!