This Side-By-Side Photo Of Two Pregnant Women Makes The Perfect Point
Pregnant women who post baby bump pics on social media just can't win. No matter their size, there is always someone ready to go with mean comments or offer them unsolicited advice. Why can't women just show off their bumps proudly without getting flack for their shape?
Brittney Aäe, an endurance athlete and coach, experienced this firsthand when she started posting pictures of her baby bump.
People saw her defined abs and called her belly "small" at 39 weeks. Well, she got sick of that and spoke up about it via Instagram. Here's her post.
"Why does our society shame women whose bodies do not adhere to some narrow notion of false normalcy?"
She saw that Tess Holliday, the woman behind #EffYourBeautyStandards, also got negative comments at 39 weeks pregnant for being too round.
Come on, people. Look at these two healthy pregnant women. Yeah, they look different. Because everyone's body is different. The way that a woman looks while she's pregnant varies. You're never going to see the same body shape twice.
And that's exactly what Brittany is proving with this post.
She trained throughout her pregnancy and received negative comments for that, too.
She wants to be an inspiration to other athletes, and she definitely accomplished that with these photos of her pregnancy. Below is a post of her body during and then one month after pregnancy.
She says,
I share to dispel fear other pregnant athletes might hold about their own post-pregnancy bodies. Please allow these images to broaden your idea of what a 'normal' pregnant and postpartum body looks like.
One month after giving birth, she has her body back. And there's nothing weird about that.
People like Brittany, who can connect to other pregnant women through social media, are awesome for promoting body positivity like this.
Let's hope the trend continues and we'll see an end to all the negative comments on social media that pregnant women have to deal with.
It's a great reminder that pregnant women aren't things to comment on, and no two pregnant bodies look alike.
Citations: Pregnant Endurance Athlete Who Was Body-Shamed Explains This Photo (Cosmopolitan)