What Is This?

Herself speaks.

The below "ad" appeared in my Facebook feed recently.

What fresh hell?

As far as I can determine, this appears to be an advertisement for an article of clothing. Shorts, apparently. Except they are merely a FRAGMENT of shorts, designed to be worn with... one's undergarments showing? Really? This is not clothing.

(I will pause and reflect that the model in question has lovely flat and unscarred abdomen. Can I purchase one of those somewhere? Even if I could, though, I still would not wear those "shorts".) 

-----

Here were are again at the beginning of summer, when the teen girls occupy all of the stalls in the local Kohl's dressing room, snapping pictures of one another in the various bathing suits they are trying on, and overweight middle-aged women such as I slink in between them, murmuring a polite "excuse me" that is promptly mocked by the little sisters of the teens, to try on some boring skin-covering garment, and to wonder whether it is the terrible light of the dressing room, or merely age, that makes oneself so... unappealing. 

Then the ads -- oh, the ads -- like the one below, interspersed with ads for products to reduce chest wrinkles or to tame the flabbiness of one's upper arms. Be thin! Be wrinkle free! Be smooth and youthful! Eat kale! 101 smoothies, 102 workouts for that curvaceous behind. 

I am trying. There's nearly half a century of life on this body. I fail, but I will keep on trying. 

Realistic goals. And realistic clothing. That's the best I can do, I think.