18.12.15

Mom's body

This is an issue that has crossed the mind of every woman, regardless of whether she wants to become a mom or not.

I was never much worried about acquiring a mom's body postpartum, mainly because I did not want to be a mom until perhaps a year ago. This may sound sad, but it is true.

Women have been looking at the mirror for a long time. In fact, most of the time, women seek that perfect look to prove that they are better mates than other women, while making them jealous. In the wild, we often see this type of mating behaviour in males, not females. So why do human females use their bodies and appearance to attract males and not the other way around?

The answer relies in the history of human behaviour. Since the early signs of society, women were associated with weakness. However, thousands of years later, I would expect that evolution would have taken care of this irrational mindset. But no, our society still keeps objectifying women's bodies as they please and we pay for it.

Becoming a mother (or some form of it) is almost as old as life itself. Being a human mom is as old as being human. Worrying about body image is as old as sexual behaviour, but using women's bodies to sell clothes, perfumes, cars, tobacco, and so on is as old as marketing (a.k.a. yesterday)! It is wrong and should not happen.

I am not saying it is wrong to want to feel beautiful and sexy. This is normal as our instincts tell us that better looking mates will provide better (healthier, more resilient, etc.) offspring. What's wrong is using bodies to sell stuff. That is wrong! So ladies, whether you are a mom, grandma, aunt, single, divorced or widow, your body is yours and does not belong to anyone else! Let them criticise as much as they want. Only you should have the power to change the way you look.



So yes, even I thought about my body post-birth. Yes, I also worried that I would never look in the mirror the same way. And you know what? I was damn right!

It is ok to have boobs of different size - especially when you just breastfed from your smaller one (yes, we all have different sized-boobs).
It is ok to have stretch marks.
It is ok to not loose all the weight in the start.
All these marks represent the struggles your body has been through. Pretty much like scars, but scars marking a beautiful event in your life - becoming a mother.

So yes, I have a mom's body. But guess what? I am a mom and I have a body, so yes, I have a mom's body and I am pretty damn proud of it!

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