The Love Haters

Ever since childhood, Katie has been afraid of wearing swimsuits “because it feels like being naked” (48). Bathing suits symbolize Katie’s insecurities about her body and how she tends to hide herself because of her fear of being seen. While her cousins were getting swimming lessons, Katie’s stepmother was putting her on a diet and causing her to needlessly worry about her appearance. When Cole gives her the assignment in Key West, one of Katie’s biggest fears about the assignment is having to wear a bathing suit in front of others, and she bursts into tears when Cole tells her “don’t forget to pack your bikini” (24). When Rue gives Katie a red one-piece to wear to swimming lessons, Katie can hardly bring herself to put it on, comparing the feeling of wearing a swimsuit to “being a knight with no armor. It’s like being a quarterback with no helmet. It’s like being a hermit crab with no shell!” (49). Beanie compares Katie’s fear of swimsuits to a phobia and encourages her to do “exposure therapy” (50). Though bathing suits mainly represent Katie’s fears about her body, they also begin to symbolize the power of appreciating her body as the novel progresses and Katie is kinder to herself. She spends less time dwelling on wearing a swimsuit the more times she does so, showing how her exposure therapy is working. By the time she has to wear a swimsuit to SWET training, she doesn’t feel terrible about wearing the “too sexy” (110) black one-piece, though she is embarrassed—as most people would be—when the seat of it tears off during training. Even so, Katie’s journey to being comfortable in a swimsuit mirrors her progression to being comfortable in her body.