The Shape of a Mother
Last night my friend showed me the website The Shape of a Mother. It is dedicated to “letting out the secret” about how a woman’s body looks while pregnant and postpartum–imperfections and all. Here is the story of how it all got started.
One day I sat in a restaurant in Anaheim, California eating breakfast, when a woman passed by my table with her infant carrier in tow. As she lifted it up to fit between the tables, her shirt raised and I saw that, although she was at a healthy weight and her body was fit, she had that same extra skin hanging around her belly that I do. It occurred to me that a post-pregnancy body is one of this society’s greatest secrets; all we see of the female body is that which is airbrushed and perfect, and if we look any different, we hide it from the light of day in fear of being seen. That makes me want to cry. Sure we all talk about the sagging boobs and other parts, but no one ever sees them. Or if they do, it’s in comical form, mocking the beauty that created and nourished our children.
It is my dream, then, to create this website where women of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities can share images of their bodies so it will no longer be secret. So we can finally see what women really look like sans airbrushes and plastic surgery.
I really love this idea. This is definitely a topic that needs to be addressed. We shouldn’t be ashamed of how we look during or after pregnancy. We are the givers of life. If anything, we should be very proud of these changes that occur from having babies. We are beautiful!
January 10th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
i love this idea!!! i believe that if more people saw the reality of life, it wouldnt be such a shameful thing for us moms!
January 10th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
I agree! I hope the word gets out about this wonderful website!
January 31st, 2010 at 1:14 am
I’m so glad you wrote about this site. I have never heard about it before now and I think it is invaluable to women pregnant and postpartum who are feeling ashamed of their bodies. This is the kind of thing I know I want to see, to make me feel normal and not so pressured to be like the celebrities who lose all their baby weight in two weeks. So cool.