Thursday, July 20, 2006

The shape of a mother

A friend sent me the link to a wonderful site called The Shape of a Mother.

From the blogger's informational page:

It occurred to me that a post-pregnancy body is one of this society's greatest secrets; all we see of the female body is that which is airbrushed and perfect, and if we look any different, we hide it from the light of day in fear of being seen. That makes me want to cry. Sure we all talk about the sagging boobs and other parts, but no one ever sees them. Or if they do, it's in comical form, mocking the beauty that created and nourished our children.

It is my dream, then, to create this website where women of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities can share images of their bodies so it will no longer be secret.
There are some beautiful stories and pictures. Good for these women - it's about damn time women started celebrating their post-pregnancy bodies.

This topic is feeling quite timely to me, as Rocco is starting to wean and my humongous nursing almost-A cup breasts are dwindling back down to where-exactly-is-the-bra-supposed-to-go breasts. Evem though I'm back down to my normal weight, my belly sticks out further than my boobs do. I won't pretend that it's not sometimes a struggle to remember that while I may not look like (published pictures of) Angelina Jolie, my body is an amazing thing. My body has grown and nurtured two healthy children. I owe it more than being embarrassed at its inconvenient parts.

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