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Home / Lifestyle

Grace Cormack: Stop fit shaming yummy mummies

By Grace Cormack
Herald online·
19 Jan, 2015 10:20 PM4 mins to read

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One of the most famous 'yummy mummies', model Miranda Kerr. Photo / Instagram

One of the most famous 'yummy mummies', model Miranda Kerr. Photo / Instagram

Opinion

You could be forgiven for judging yummy mummies as the most loathed women in the world.

If you kept pace with "2014: Year of the Fit Shaming", you will know that some yummy mummies were taken to task for daring to bare their post-birth bodies in underwear.

As a quick recap, take a glance at Norwegian fitness guru Caroline Berg Eriksen's selfie on Instagram. Her photo shows a perfectly toned bod with a gobsmack of taut abs, underneath the caption: "Four days after birth".

Unbelievable, you say, it must be a fraud! Where is the obligatory baby bump that takes weeks to recede?

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After perking yourself up with four blocks of chocolate, you view an aspirational photograph of gorgeous fitness guru Maria Kang showing off her skinny midriff, surrounded by her three young children including an 8-month-old baby, and the question: "What's your excuse?"

So, what is my excuse? I'm not a vain, self-obsessed cow? How about that?

But in a heartbeat, I would reveal the same pictures. Post them on a billboard, or hire a helicopter to trail my images across the sky. That way I could display every toned muscle to say, "Yes, I did it! I just gave birth and look fitter than you - even if you just won Olympic gold for the heptathlon!" In fact, that might be my slogan, should I manage to minimise my whale of a waist next time around.

So, if any of us might have done the same, why do we want to discard these photos like dirty diapers?

Perhaps you think these photos create unreasonable expectations for new mothers to resemble wonder women moments after giving birth. Pregnancy was every woman's excuse for eating for two, or three or five.

Where is the empathy for pregnant women who gave up exercise and took up guzzling icecream by the tub on doctor's orders?

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And how will we explain our situation, when asked months after the birth, "When is your baby due?" (Such questions make me swear that I will not leave the house again without baby. Actually I am not leaving the house.)

You could argue that the yummy mummies' photos fly in the face of good health.

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Pregnant women should not be discouraged from putting on weight necessary to grow a healthy baby. New mothers should not engage in exhausting exercise regimes or diets that limit intake required for feeding.

Maybe you think society should leave a woman's looks alone, particularly when they have brought a new person into the world. The baby represents the miracle of childbirth, rather than the speed at which the mother regains her pre-pregnancy body. And surely there are more important things for mothers to think about, such as establishing a bond with baby, and feeding and cuddling it.

While there should be no shame in a woman's belly looking as though it harboured new life for nine months, should this preclude us from celebrating mums who look like sports stars after giving birth?

Or should we extend censorship to ban photos that do not represent everyday post-partum women?

Yummy mummies have been unfairly accused of hate speech for showing off their "fit pride". As targets of fit shaming, they have become a marginalised minority, beaten down by the media for the way they look.

All this fit shaming does little to inspire us to exercise, or focus on any healthy New Year's resolutions.

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So here's my resolve this year - to give up fit shaming, and offer my support to yummy mummies.

1. Let's celebrate our differences rather than condemn them. We don't send hate mail to female Olympics games participants for picking up 136kg in a dead lift. Nor do we abuse contortionists for twisting themselves into overhead locker baggage. So why should we insult yummy mummies for their fast recovery from pregnancy?

2. Refrain from personal accusations of yummy mummies. Imagine having to answer: "Didn't you want to eat for your baby's sake?" It would be unfair to accuse these women of compromising their unborn baby's health simply because they are slimmer or physically stronger.

3. Let's not ridicule those who might inspire positive change. Fitness gurus who share their "success" stories attempt to inspire healthy choices, rather than highlight how far we are from achieving our own goals. While it's not necessary to shed our maternity clothes, yummy mummies can remind us to become strong, fit and healthy for active lives.

4. No woman should be judged for how she looks after giving birth. Surely that same adage applies to yummy mummies.

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