Spectator by Seema Goswami: Swim against the stereotypes
Mindy Kaling and Martha Stewart rocked swimsuits recently. Both remain stuck pandering to age-old standards expected of women
When it comes to women in swimsuits, it’s never just about swimsuits. Take lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who at the grand age of 81, slipped into a one-piece to pose for the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 2023 Swimsuit Issue. Or actress Mindy Kaling, who lost close to 15 kilos to model the swimsuits of the range she designed in collaboration with a fashion brand.
I know how we were supposed to react to these pictures. We were meant to marvel at the spectacle of an 81-year-old who is fit enough and glamorous enough to score a cover pic — in a swimsuit no less. How brave of dear Martha, we were meant to exclaim, to put herself out like that! How amazing that a woman in her eighties could look so good! What an utterly brilliant example she presented of not letting age define you!
As for Mindy, did you see how thin she had got? The actress, previously known for her ample curves, was now so svelte as to being completely unrecognisable. What an amazing transformation! And how utterly inspirational!
But not one of these thoughts popped up in my mind as I scrolled through the many pictures of Stewart and Kaling in their swimsuits. There they were: trussed up tight, cleavage thrust forward, moisturised and buffed. And the only feeling I could summon up was one of deep disquiet.
Is this really what women should find inspirational? Is this what we have to look forward to as we march through the decades of our lives? Will our value forever lie in the way we look? Will our primary purpose always be to appeal to the male gaze and hope that it finds us appealing? Are we doomed to be objects rather than subjects, no matter how much we mature or how successful we are?
What an utterly revolting and completely depressing prospect to look forward to! Yet, that is being presented to us as something not just to admire but to aspire to.
Let’s conduct a little thought experiment. Close your eyes and picture a male celebrity of around Stewart’s vintage. Paul McCartney, for instance, who is a sprightly 80. Now imagine him stripping down to pose for a magazine cover. I bet you can’t. And that’s because that would never happen. There is no way that McCartney would put his body out there to be scrutinised in the way that Stewart has. And what’s more, nobody would dream of asking him to do anything like that.
Or take the generously proportioned talk show host James Corden. Do you think he would ever showcase his weight loss by stripping down to his tighty whiteys and posing for a magazine cover? I don’t think so.
Sadly, this kind of objectification seems to be reserved for women. I would have thought that growing older would free us of these expectations. But Stewart has proved to us that no matter how old and grey and wrinkled we become, it still behoves us to dye our hair, get some Botox and filler and squeeze ourselves into that swimsuit and give that camera all that we’ve got. And Kaling’s message seems to be that body positivity stops where a swimsuit promotion campaign begins.
As I said, women in swimsuits are a complicated business. It’s always about so much more than swimsuits.
