6 Striking Portraits Show Beach Life in Ghana

What is a "bikini body"? In the U.S., the phrase often evokes thinness, a flat stomach, and toned limbs. We get this message from many sources: magazines, movies, and — perhaps most troubling — from our peers. Since summer makes us all the more aware of these standards and how our bodies "measure up," Refinery29 set out to explore how women in the U.S. and abroad feel about their bodies (on the beach and off).

We sent reporters and photographers to six international beaches to report on the global experience of being a woman on the shore.

Here, six women on La Pleasure Beach in Accra, Ghana tell their stories.