Bellow, we have 20 pictures that show real women that don’t follow society’s expectations.
#1
“I was in the waiting room at the doc office today and this lady walked in with her sleeping baby! They handed her paperwork to do & as she was sitting there trying to figure out how to hold her sleeping baby while filling out the paperwork, this man, from across the room, asks her if she would like for him to hold her baby while she did her paperwork!! She smiled and said that would be wonderful!! This man went over there and rocked and loved on that baby like he was his!!”
#2
“Moms helping moms”
#3
“Shout out to all the women who are trying.
Trying to look in the mirror more often at the gym.
Trying to get in the photo.
Trying to take off the cover up at the pool.
Trying to add more weight to the bar.
Trying to order the two piece.
Trying to speak up for themselves.
Trying to start hard conversations.
Trying to do push-ups.
Trying to allow themselves to be seen.
Trying to silence the negative self-talk.
Trying to learn.
To grow.
And to accept their journey.
Even if today was hard.
Just try.
I woke up this morning and I honestly didn’t feel like trying. My head was in a weird place. Already sweating, got to the gym, and felt my stomach hanging more than normal. I felt it taking up space. I felt it being noticed. And yet, more often than not, I found myself looking in the mirror.
Even in a moment of feeling defeated, I noticed myself trying.
It was simple.
But it meant everything.”
#4
“A friend’s daughter-in-law was told to ‘cover-up” while feeding her baby, so she did,’ said Carol Lockwood in a FB post that has now gone viral. “I’m SO over people shaming women for nursing,” she continued.”
#5
“My hubby snapped this pic as I fell asleep sitting up, breastfeeding our 2 week old twins. Exhausted doesn’t fully describe this experience as I was healing from 2 types of births (Baby A vaginal, Baby B cesarean) and my body is working non-freaking-stop to make all the milk for these boys.”
#6
“This mom *thought* she was having a third baby girl — and now the exact moment she found out she actually gave birth to a boy”
#7
“What does a pregnancy give you? stretch marks, loose skin, weight gain, hair loss, saggy boobs? Or does it give you a baby? Both are probably true – you get both of the above, but what should we focus on? I mean… you just made a baby, you made 10 fingers and 10 toes, a tiny nose, you made a person, you did THAT. If you looked exactly the same after, it would be very rare, what’s normal is to change, so why is society shaming that change? We rarely receive comments about how amazing our bodies are after a pregnancy, what we do see, hear and read is how we need to “get back to normal”, “loose our baby weight”, “use these creams to prevent stretch marks” (sorry to break it to you ladies but you can’t prevent stretch marks to begin with) “get a boob job to “fix” the damage breastfeeding did”, “hide your scars” and on it goes. This is so sad and I feel like some of us get robbed of the joy of becoming a mother because they feel the need to start changing back to “normal” instead… I think we should bring the focus back to what our bodies have done, what they’re capable off – and be damn proud of how we look because of it ♥️ that’s where the focus should be, don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise ♥️”
#8
“I saw a guy insult another woman for her cellulite and it really bummed me out for a second but then I remembered that women’s bodies don’t exist to please men ”
#9
“Sleep when the baby sleeps!”
#10
“Sometimes you just have to make it work”
#11
“Sometimes you just have to make it work”
#11
“What a journey this has been! From the huge shock of learning there were three, to people’s reactions, the numerous scannings/checks and all the preparations and planning for this life-changing event,” said triplets_of_copenhagen, who documented her pregnancy before giving birth a few days ago. “Nothing like the ordinary.“
Her baby bump weighed 20 kg total and she’s so ready for the next chapter. “It’s strange to have ended up with such a big belly and it’s even stranger that it can stand out like that without falling down,” she said.
#12
“No babies. No weight fluctuations. Just a girl who’s lived 30 years and got something to show for it”
#13
“The pictures of ‘perfect bodies’ you see on Instagram… don’t let them get you down,” said influencer Rini Frey. “Most of them don’t represent reality and if they do, it doesn’t mean that these bodies belong to a healthy and happy human,” she continued. “It’s just what we are made to believe, but it’s mostly not true.”
#14
“Here I am, nursing Miles on the ground because I’d rather J be on my back than on Miles’ face. Not posed or looking cute. Surrounded by laundry on the floor. Dishes sitting in the sink. Dogs barking through the fence with a hole in it.”
#15
#16
“Mara Martin walked the SISwim runway while breastfeeding her five-month-old daughter and we are here for it. “I can’t believe I am waking up to headlines with me and my daughter in them for doing something I do every day,” said the model the next day. “I’m so grateful to be able to share this message and hopefully normalize breastfeeding and also show others that women CAN DO IT ALL.”
#17
“One week postpartum.
I will heal slow and gentle.
I will take long hours swaying and just breathing.
I will release all expectations.
I will not hurry.
Or rush.
Or be anxious.
This week I will savor and trace your outline.
For I plan to remember how you feel tucked against me for as long as I live.-Mia”
#18
“Stop worrying so much about not looking like you’re a brand new and shiny human,” said Sarah Nicole Landry on a recent IG post. “Because you’re not. You’ve lived. Loved. Experienced. Your body in its own way will show itself through those memories. Whether you live it out shabby chic or get refinished, it doesn’t matter. Because ultimately you are something that has grown in worth, not lessened. Not one bit.”
But the blogger didn’t always feel this way—after having kids, she lost 100 pounds and struggled with body image: “I found myself faced with so much self-loathing and worked my way through that and realized I had worth,” she explains to health magazine. “Even amid the scars and stretch marks, I still had beauty. I knew that if I felt this way, others must too. So I decided to be vulnerable and put it out into the world to share.”
#19
“Pro runner Stephanie Rothstein recently shared what her stomach looks like 3 years postpartum, revealing that she still has Diastasis Recti: “This is as good as it will get for me,” she says. I still have a 1 finger gap, extra saggy skin, and stretch marks.” But she’s grown to love her body for more than just looks: “My core is also the strongest it’s ever been, and the proof has been no major injuries in my hips, glute, back, and core since giving birth. This is how I look, but not how I feel. When I’m training hard, lifting, sprinting at the end of races I feel the strongest core possible. It doesn’t look the same as the women I race against who haven’t given birth, but who gives a crap. It took me a while to be comfortable in my own skin, but every time I run in a sports bra, wear crop top shirts I grow a little more confident in my postpartum body.”
#20
“Sometimes I hear the rare negative comment about my decision to go to school instead of being home full time with my kids.
It’s hard to not get offended at these comments. It’s hard to not question myself and question if I’m really doing what’s best for my babies.
But then I have days like today.
A full day of clinical hours, gone before they wake up, home just in time to get going again (to study) then this… My little guy running toward me, all smiles and excitement and I just know, I’m doing something right. ”
