This news anchor’s bikini photo is going viral for a great reason

We have definitely, totally, 100% entered swimsuit season. Here, we are proponents that every body is a beach body, but unfortunately, sometimes body image issues and low self-esteem (and, y’know, the messages we hear from society since birth!) get in the way of putting that thought into practice. That’s something that Iowa news anchor Erin Kiernan knows all too well, and recently took to Facebook to talk about.

This past Monday (the 4th of July!), Erin posted a photo of herself from two years ago wearing a bikini to Facebook with a lengthy caption. The point of the caption was to talk about body-shaming — mostly, she wanted to stop body-shaming herself. The thing is, she mentioned that the last holiday weekend she’d posted an essay called “Put On Your Damn Swimsuit,” and she said that she was feeling like “the biggest hypocrite” because that was something she herself isn’t currently willing to do.

Here’s the post:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ferinkiernan13%2Fposts%2F1203403379703684&width=500

In full, the caption says:

It’s started to go viral, because the message is one that so many of us can relate to — it’s what’s inside that’s of value, and our time on this Earth is short. We need to enjoy it, and put on our damn swimsuits.