Yes, Women Still Look Pregnant After They Give Birth. No, You Should Not Comment On It
Giovanna Fletcher takes to Instagram to talk about her experience with “tummy-shaming”
Here’s a little secret you may or may not know: many women still look pregnant after they give birth. Because in actual real life when you get pregnant, your body — oh, I don’t know — goes through MASSIVE physical changes and doesn’t just deflate like a bouncy-ball when the baby comes out. Isn’t that crazy?
Apparently, this is something that some people are completely baffled by. Giovanna Fletcher is an actress, author and blogger who has a pretty substantial social media following. Yesterday she posted an anecdote on Instagram about having a random stranger walk up to her in the street, point at her, and say, “Oh look! Mummy’s still got her tummy.” It’s getting a lot of attention, because women are seriously sick of this crap.
You do not ask a woman if she is pregnant or comment on her “tummy.” Ever. Even if you see a baby crowning and emerging from her vagina, just take the safe road and assume you’re witnessing the miracle of the virgin birth. Mkay?
Be warned: by the time a woman finally gives birth, she is officially OVER people touching her belly, talking about her belly, invading her space, and abandoning all sense of social propriety. It’s bad enough to dodge all of the boundary-crossing remarks when she’s pregnant, but when she’s postpartum? And she’s got a needy newborn? And she’s had no sleep?
“Oh, look. Mummy’s still got her tummy” might get someone bitch slapped. This woman was lucky all she inspired was an Instagram rant.
“More than anything, I was baffled over the stranger’s need to share her thoughts,” Fletcher writes.”Yes, I still have a bump. But that bump kept my little baby boy safe for a whole nine months. That bump has filled my world with even more love and light than I knew possible. That bump is a miracle worker… My bump will slowly go over time, but I’ll never stop being thankful to it and my body for everything it’s given me.”
