Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Shape of a Mother.

Fertility goddess


Recently, I came across a website called The Shape of a Mother. It's a collection of postpartum images of the nude female. It's been such a large part of my healing process, and finally feeling at peace with myself.  
Now, I struggle, and have struggled with body image for a long time, and after giving birth things haven't really changed, except for my now non-existant bum, and stretch marks. While I did lose twenty pounds through eating well, my tummy still holds onto some chub, and my breasts have began to sag. I remember being pregnant, and so self concious of my stretch marks that I had them photoshopped out of the photos from my pregnancy photoshoot. They weren't allowed to make an appearance in my pictures. I didn't want to remember myself that way, and I guess I just didn't want anyone to see me that way either. 
The body of a mother is talked about ridiculed , but never seen... unless it's Kim Kardashia who, four weeks later, still hasn't snapped back to her pre-baby body. (please, after having Luca, I didn't have the time to shower, nevermind rigorously exercise and follow a strict diet plan).
I feel a little upset when I read these headlines after looking at all the beautiful woman in my life who come in all sorts of packaging. When I hear my friends talk about how aweful they look, I never see anything that could cause such inward hatred, yet when I would look at my own reflection, I could understand. That was then though, and I'm starting to fall in love with the body I was given, and all of the fantastic things it does.


8 comments:

  1. You are beautiful my sweety! Look what you brought into this world,I know how you are feeling cause look at what I married to scared to marry a good looking guy and let him see me naked not a chance he would probably say good bye.my body was a bean pole before I had your brother!

    ReplyDelete
  2. awe momma, your comments always make me smile. <3

    I think you're beauuuuutiful! You're one of those people who I see nothing but beauty in. You're crazy if you don't see it! I Love you :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm , at 17 years old I was 95 pounds then went to 180 while pregnant.On the east coast the men pretty much demand "thier woman" get back in shape.Ok this is 1976.In 6 mths. I went to 100 lbs. and not alot of stretch marks.I was lucky.At 26 boom pregs again went to 190 easily huge thighs whatever.Boom lots of stretch marks lots of flab.By 1986 I was fit again.I water skied , biked walked with a 9 yr old and a baby in a back carrier.Still stretch marks though.No more making love with the light on no siree.I got pregs again in 1987 went only to 160 this time and bang more stretch marks and lots of flab saggy tits etc. whatever.This guy I was with demanded I retain my 110 but I could only get down to 115 for 8 years I went back to biking which I loved and did pretty good.But after that relationship was over I kinda went to 125 to 130.By the time I was 49 I was exhausted and said screw it and let myself go for the past 3 years and a new husband I am now like 160 ish but I do not care .My hubby loves me the way I am and I'm very confident with my body.The point here is there are sooo many other things to worry about in life .pearl you wear clothes very well.Jesus you can take a bed sheet and wear it well.You are you stretch marks and all.so what .I was always ridiculed for my body and thinking back now yeah I was frantic on how I LOOKED BUT THAT WAS ONLY BECAUSE i LET someone else make me feel that way.Like my body dam straight I do .I haven't seen my poonie for 15 years now due to belly flab but it's all good.You are a fantastic mom , daughter in lawish and person stop fretting so......I put anonymous cause I do not know what those other options are :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree with you, post-baby body feels like ou are living in someone else's skin!!! You spend 9 months slowly growing and getting used to a new body and then all of a sudden, flabby stomach, no muscle tone, odd shapped breats, and the list goes on.... Although I constantly feel blessed and fortunate to have a healthy baby, I can not help but think that I will never have "my" body back, ever... but that's not true. This is my body, I need to learn to love it, cherrish it, nurture it and respect it again. Doing Yoga has helped me in many ways to re-connect with "my" body. Almost 7 months later I can now say that I love looking at myself in the mirror again... so ditch your scale, go for a walk, do Yoga in the morning, eat healthy and tell yourself one quality about your body everyday, because you deserve it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are beautiful, and you should be happy with what you look like, no matter what that is. Remember how skinny I used to be? Well, some meds made me gain 60 pounds in 3 months, and I was devastated.. It literally took me a couple years (just recently) to realize it really doesn't matter what you look like, or how "small" you are. It's about who you are inside. After all, “You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.”
    I believe our bodies are so meaningless in this lifetime. What does it really matter? Seriously? (although, making your body healthy is a very very good idea! you don't want to get sick!) Your body is also a temple. Treat it as such :D (I'm sure you know that...)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd love to learn yoga but my financial situation isn't really there yet. There are a few dvds at the library, but I know I'd do better in a class setting. You have a beautiful figure Erika. I think you look cuddly. :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. Being a decent human being is everything. I cannot stand mean spirited people, i do not mind what people look like, but attitudes make the world of difference. Looking fantastic is fine, but if they are not nice, not kind, that goes out of the window for me. Having a pleasant personality is everything. I also enjoy people who make me laugh, they really brighten up my life!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...