Summer has long been marketed as the season of the “bikini body”, a narrow, exclusionary idea that places pressure on us to shrink, sculpt, or hide our natural forms to be deemed acceptable for sunshine and sand. All bodies are summer bodies. But pleasure doesn’t have a size requirement. This summer, let’s step into something bolder: a season of embodied joy, unapologetic softness, and radical self-permission.
The truth is, every body is a summer body. Whether you’re lounging in a strappy sundress, shimmying into swimwear, or savouring the feel of warm grass beneath your bare skin, your body is already worthy of pleasure and visibility. Embracing summer doesn’t have to mean enduring shame or discomfort, it can mean finding new ways to feel good, to feel free, and to feel fully you.
Skin, Touch, and Sensual Living
There’s something deeply sensual about summer. The breeze on your shoulders. The sun warming your skin. The simple joy of being lightly clothed and deeply present. Touch becomes more immediate, more thrilling. Whether you’re reconnecting with a partner, flirting with a new crush, or simply relishing the texture of fruit juice dripping down your wrist, summer is an invitation to indulge the senses!
Showing more skin can be a reclaiming of space. It can be political. It can be powerful. It can be sexy as hell. For those of us who have been taught to hide or shrink or apologise for the space we take up, wearing less and enjoying more can be a radical act of self-love. Pleasure starts with permission, so let yourself enjoy the feel of your favourite lotion on your legs, the sun warming your belly, the way a lover’s hands linger where your swimsuit dips low.
Food, Fullness, and Feeling Good
Summer is also a time of abundance: ripe berries, grilled feasts, sticky ice cream cones, midnight snacks on the patio. But so many of us have internalised the idea that pleasure (especially food pleasure!) must be earned or denied. That to “look good” we must restrict, limit, or control.
This is your reminder that you don’t need to earn nourishment. Eating well isn’t a betrayal of beauty, it’s a celebration of being alive. Fullness, in every sense, is not a flaw. Summer pleasure includes the freedom to be full: full of flavour, full of desire, full of joy. Eat the peach. Lick your fingers. Let your laughter spill out as freely as the Prosecco.
Chub Rub, Soft Skin, and Practical Magic
Let’s talk about one of summer’s unsexiest realities: chub rub. Thighs that touch are not a problem. In fact, they’re beautiful, capable, and deserving of care. But friction, heat, and humidity can create real discomfort, and taking care of your skin isn’t vanity, it’s survival.
There are brilliant tools out there to combat the burn: anti-chafe balms, bike shorts under dresses, or simply a trusty bit of cornstarch. Whatever helps you move through your day with less irritation is worth celebrating. Caring for your body, tenderly, attentively, and without shame, is an act of devotion. You deserve to walk, dance, and stretch out in the sun without discomfort.
This Summer, Choose Pleasure
You are not a project to be fixed. Your body doesn’t have to be tighter, smaller, or different to be worthy of pleasure. It already is. This summer, choose the swimsuit that makes you feel good. Say yes to the picnic. Wear the crop top. Lick the popsicle. Let someone kiss the sweat from your collarbone.
Pleasure is not a reward for perfection, it’s a birthright. And it’s yours, now.
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