PHILADELPHIA, July 1 (UPI) -- American author Jennifer Weiner encouraged her readers to share photos of themselves in swimsuits to promote body positivity.
Weiner, the author of Good in Bed, and In Her Shoes, which was made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine, said in a video on Friday that the challenge was inspired by a conversation she overheard among a group of girls in which one girl said: "I don't want to wear a tankini, my tummy is too big."
The conversation inspired Weiner, the mother of two teenage girls, to post a picture of herself in a bathing suit along with a message about body positivity.
"I know we are inching – slowly! – toward the idea that you don't have to be a size zero, or a teenager, to look good/be allowed on the beach," she wrote.
She went on to express concern about negative body image in young girls and encouraged women to set positive examples by wearing their swimsuits with confidence during the Fourth of July weekend.
"We all need to be the change we want to see in the world...and so, this weekend, I hope you'll consider being the woman that the women and girls in YOUR life see in a swimsuit," she wrote.
Weiner said that she would select some "winning photos" and send books to some who chose to participate in the "smorgasbord of positivity."
