Women's Issues
There’s Nothing ‘Brave’ About A Mom Wearing A Bikini
Few things strike fear into the hearts of women quite like the post-baby body, or so the cultural narrative goes, which is probably why we collectively start peeing our pants any time a mom steps out and shows her real shape. Such is this case with this viral photo of Rachel Hollis from The Chic Site. Hollis recently shared a photo of her post-baby bikini body on Facebook, and at the time of this writing, the photo has been ‘Liked’ 354,685 times and has 45,308 shares.
Beneath the photo, Hollis wrote an inspirational, feel-good caption justifying her right to wear her postpartum flaws with pride and encouraging others to do the same:
“I have stretch marks and I wear a bikini. I have a belly that’s permanently flabby from carrying three giant babies and I wear a bikini. My belly button is saggy… (which is something I didn’t even know was possible before!!) and I wear a bikini. I wear a bikini because I’m proud of this body and every mark on it. Those marks prove that I was blessed enough to carry my babies and that flabby tummy means I worked hard to lose what weight I could. I wear a bikini because the only man who’s opinion matters knows what I went through to look this way. That same man says he’s never seen anything sexier than my body, marks and all. They aren’t scars ladies, they’re stripes and you’ve earned them. Flaunt that body with pride!”
Her words are an all-too-familiar call to action, and I can see how they would resonate with so many women and moms, but pardon me if I’m not falling all over myself to applaud a thin, conventionally attractive woman for daring to wear a bikini.
