It is a strange thing to learn that your body is a potential stumbling block to your brothers in Christ when you are thirteen, bone-skinny, and don’t even know how to properly blend foundation into your neck. Nevertheless, it was the persistent buzz in the background of my youth. When I went to Walmart to buy a new pair of shorts, I had to try them on to make sure they were long enough. The invention of the “tankini” was a pure gift for conservative Christian girls during the high tide of purity culture, because it covered our midriffs while giving us some relief from the dreaded one-piece, which inevitably gave us wedgies in the back and the front. We didn’t fit into our own skin at that age, let alone a proper bathing suit.
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