Summer body: Thunder thighs and belly outlines

Once upon a time, summer used to be about self-hatred. Magazines told women how they could get the perfect "bikini body", and made them feel guilty if they were not a toned size 8 with a flat stomach. Celebrities posted photos looking impossibly flawless on the beach making mere mortals wonder why their selfies didn't look like they belonged on a magazine cover.

Adverts joined in. They showed women that if they bought their expensive and unnecessary products, they too could look like Victoria's Secret models.

But whether women wanted to follow the rules or not, they were painfully aware of what an "appropriate" summer body looked like: no cellulite, no thigh gap, no thunder thighs, no bat wings, no calories and no fun.

Until 2017. This year, after a growing backlash from women across the world who are sick of being told to change their bodies for summer, the pressure has finally gone. Instead, women are embracing their bodies as they are.

This revolutionary concept has already gone viral. Miss Eaves (Shanthony Exum) has released a new song from her upcoming album Feminasty, called Thunder Thighs.

It is, in all its glorious thigh-slapping cellulite-loving color, a witty ode in favor of "chub rub, thick thighs, thunder thighs". Uploaded onto YouTube days ago, it has already had more than 200,000 views with women calling it their summer anthem.

The reason for its success is simple: For once, women have a hip-hop video that doesn't show them gyrating in bikinis at a pool party.

Instead, it depicts women of different shapes, sizes and colors showing off their perfectly normal bodies in tiny shorts, skirts and mom jeans as they stroll around Brooklyn, New York. It's done humorously but the message is one that women have long been waiting to hear.

But Miss Eaves isn't the only one championing the positive summer body movement.

On Instagram, women have started sharing photos of their belly outlines - the shape of their rounded tummy, visible in tight clothing or a bikini.

"Bellies are cute and worth showing off," wrote one woman who showed off hers on her SelfLoveClub account. "Cheers to a summer of rocking clothing that give you a visible tummy outline. Cheers to embracing what we've been told not to wear because it doesn't 'flatter our body type'."

Another, bodyposipanda, wrote: "Is it just me, or is it kind of cute to have a dress that frames the feature you once hated the most and now celebrate as beautifully soft? I never even thought I would dare to wear a bodycon dress without having washboard abs first, let alone choose one that emphasizes my tummy!"

Celebrities are also taking part - in their own way. Rihanna has recently been scrutinized for her figure, with people saying she has put on weight. She hit back with an Instagram post showing hip-hop artist Gucci Mane with a protruding belly back in 2007, and a photo of him looking toned in 2017. "If you can't handle me at my 2007 Gucci Mane, You don't deserve me at my 2017 Gucci Mane," it read.

Halle Berry has also found her body shape scrutinized recently, with people suggesting that she was pregnant. She responded on Instagram with a selfie captioned: "Can a girl have some steak and fries?"

It was reminiscent of the body shaming Jennifer Aniston experienced last summer when she was photographed in a bikini after eating lunch. Cue headlines: "Is former Friends star pregnant at 47?"

When even celebrities - many of whom have to trade on their looks - are sick of the constant expectation to look a certain way, it's probably time to ditch the narrow, outdated idea of what an "ideal bikini body" should look like.

So in 2017, we should start enjoying our figures just as they are. As Miss Eaves sings, "Thick thighs, sundress? I'm looking good."

Daily Telegraph