My Belly Will Never Be the Same

Australian model Erin McNaught is the latest woman to post a mommy body photo on Instagram. Her photo shows her in a bikini four weeks after giving birth.

''4 weeks PP [post partum] and I'm starting to get my stomach back!

Aside from lots of walking and eating healthily, I've been doing loads of pelvic floor and transverse abdominus exercises. Still no traditional ab work though which is driving me crazy! #bodyafterbaby”

The comments range from congratulatory messages for her being so healthy and working hard to the negative observations that this sends a bad message to other new moms.

There are already so many pressures placed upon women to look a certain way and be a certain way as moms, that a photo and message like this can trigger negative thoughts and behaviors in non-model moms.

The worst part of photos like this though is that it sets up a certain ideal unconsciously in women’s minds.

When I gave birth to my first child, I had never seen a post-pregnancy belly before, except for toned abs like McNaught’s.

When I looked down at my belly in the days following the birth of my daughter, I was scared. I thought my abs would never be seen again. If I had only seen other moms and their squishy post-pregnancy bellies, I wouldn’t have been so worried that there was something wrong with me.

My post-pregnancy belly

My belly button looked like a cork popping out of my round midsection.

I took a photo out of bewilderment. Would this ever reverse itself?

My belly has somewhat returned to a normal state, but regardless of how much ab work, or exercises, or dieting I do, it looks like I will always have a wonky looking belly.

Am I jealous of women like McNaught?

No. I know that every woman is different. Every body is different.

Should she be showing off her trim tummy for all to see? It’s her prerogative.

I am not one to speak, having at one time been photographed looking good. Having once made a living based on what my body looked like.

My pre-pregnancy belly

Did I ever make another woman feel bad about herself? I never really thought about it quite like that before.

Do women have a responsibility to other women when it comes to their beauty? Is there a difference between celebrating ourselves and showing off?

Should there be?

Should intent matter when it comes to sharing photos of ourselves? 

Should we have to consider how other people will react to our photos? Either out of jealousy for our killer abs or even revulsion for our wrinkly, stretch-marked bellies?

Stripper Baby Photo Seems Inevitable But Wrong

I opened this photo sent by a friend not knowing what I would find.


I’d like to say I was shocked, but rather I felt more of a sense of, yeah, I can see someone’s mind putting the pieces together and taking a photo of a baby on a lamp post as a stripper pole.

Perhaps the inevitability of this photo began back when stage mothers started dressing their young pageant daughters as strippers and fan dancers for the talent portion of beauty competitions.

The idea, the thought, of young girls dressed as strippers surrounds us in our culture. Until we then get a photo of a mother taking it just one step further. A mother completely sexualizing her baby in a stripper outfit with a pole to swing on.

Awkward moment to explain one day to this girl?

Is it funny? Cute? To me, no. To most mothers, I would think not.

Maybe some would say it’s no worse than dressing up one’s baby in a cheerleader outfit or a sports jersey with one’s favorite team. I mean, the baby doesn’t choose that either.

I’ll even admit I was guilty when my daughter was a baby when I dressed her in a pink bikini style bathing suit.

But for me, this photo just seems wrong on another level as it purposefully uses a child in a hyper-sexualized fashion.

I’m an ex-stripper and believe in the rights of women to make their own choices when it comes to their occupations. But I’m also a mother and just don’t see the humor in dressing a baby up as a stripper.

Were you surprised by this photo?