When I saw the photo of Caroline Berg Eriksen, I rolled my eyes and thought: here we go again, reading articles about fabulous, post-baby bellies is a regular occurance these days. Kate Middleton[1] , Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé are but a few names that have been bandied around the press in the last year, their pictures alongside headlines like: 'Baby fat vanished' and 'weight loss[2] secrets after 50lbs pregnancy gain'.
As women we are used to the image of the female body being put under a microscope in the media. We know the kinds of women who appear in magazines and on TV are not supposed to be the everyday woman; for most they are simply aspirational figures. With that in mind, I think the controversy behind images such as Caroline Eriksen's bared midriff and 'What's your Excuse?' mum Maria Kang*, is that these women are the everyday woman. They have worked hard and achieved a level of fitness that most of us will struggle with and are therefore accused of fat shaming or sending negative messages. However I think an important sentiment to relate alongside these images is: 'health first and beauty second'. We should be striving to live clean and exercise to be healthy, not to be super thin. No woman's body will look exactly the way she wants it to.
I was a size 8 when I got pregnant and because I didn't know much about heath or exercise I put on weight so fast, two years later I'm still fighting tooth and nail to shift the pounds. When I gave birth I was a size 16, after trying numerous diets and fitness routines, I have finally found a regime that works for me and am down to a size 12. With hard work and commitment I hope I will be in a position, a year from now, to take a picture and look as good as these mums. Of course I won't be posting mine on Instagram.
Truthfully, I think four days after giving birth most mums would be rocking their babies back and forth, propping their eye lids open with matchsticks, certainly in no position to take flattering selfies but is that any reason to hate Caroline Eriksen? Hardly!
Yes, she might be a tad vain but with that body who wouldn't be? Health is hard, fitness is hard but with the rising number of obese adults and children in the UK we can't afford to skirt around issues of weight anymore. These aren't bodies that have been starved for the runway or altered by Photoshop; they are the product of hard work and accountability.
Two things we should all embrace, post-pregnant or not.
* http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/tdy_tren_excuse_131016.blocks_desktop_tease.jpg
No comments :
Post a Comment