The 'Dad Bod' Proves Letting Yourself Go Is Super Sexy... If You're A Man

Have you heard of the “dad bod?” The term has existed for years, but recently blew up after an essay written about it went viral last month. Apparently, if you’re a man who lets himself go a little, you’re sending a super sexy message of confidence and comfort in your own skin. Women everywhere – can we hijack this trend?

Mackenzie Pearson wrote an essay that went viral last month, Why Girls Love The Dad Bod. Rejoice, men everywhere – you don’t have to have the perfect body! Wait – were you ever expected to? She says in her article, “The dad bod is a nice balance between a beer gut and working out. The dad bod says, ‘I go to the gym occasionally, but I also drink heavily on the weekends and enjoy eating eight slices of pizza at a time.'”

The term doesn’t just refer to dads, which is why it’s being preached to college-aged men. It refers more to an idea. The idea is, “you don’t have to be perfect.” One story says of the type, “Dad bods we salute you in all your lumpy, soft, hairy, glory.” Fantastic! But why can’t women get some of this glorious advice? As Ashley Austrew of Mommyish puts it, “Imagine a similar post about women. It’s difficult, isn’t it? It has a lot in common with unicorns and the tooth fairy and magical little leprechauns in that it doesn’t fucking exist. Mombod is not a thing. It’s not even a thing for women who’ve had children, let alone college-aged women who’ve never been pregnant.”

Seriously. Can you imagine a trend sweeping the nation that tells college-aged women to just relax and let themselves go a little? The idea of a dad going to the gym occasionally but also shoving pizza in his face is sexy. But would the mom-equivalent be sexy, too? The mom bod may say something like this:

I go the the gym occasionally but mostly just crawl around chasing my toddler while eating the macaroni and cheese he doesn’t really like.

I enjoy subsisting on a cup of coffee all day until the kids go to bed, at which time I pour myself a jug of wine and eat an entire bag of Goldfish crackers.

The gym? Why the fuck would I go there? When I finally get out of my house, I’m not going someplace where I have to pay to run in place on a machine while other people sweat profusely around me.

My body has produced several human beings. I’ll eat whatever I damn well please.

We don’t get to rejoice in our mom bods – but we should, dammit! We should all take a cue from the men here and just own this. Screw our “post-baby bodies.” We now have “mom bods.” That sounds so much sexier. Is #MomBod a thing yet? Because it should be.

Related post: 4 Truths About Our Post-Baby Bodies