Hilary Duff: 'I'm Not Debuting My Post-Baby Body, I'm Running An Errand'
Hilary Duff gets real about the pressure moms feel to look good post-baby.
Most moms feel pressured to get back to their pre-baby selves almost immediately after giving birth, but for celebrities, that pressure is even more intense. Hilary Duff recently spoke out about the way celebrity moms are forced into “showing off” their postpartum physique, even when they aren’t necessarily ready for the spotlight.
The actress and single mom sat down with Redbook to discuss the album she released this summer and her television show, Younger. In the interview, she opened up about life with her three-year-old son, Luca, and touched on the insane pressure moms feel to look good after giving birth. She said:
“After I had Luca, I went out to, like, the breast-pump store — I was still huge — and I just had a comfortable outfit on. And the next day [in the tabloids] it was like, ‘Hilary debuts post-baby bod!’ And I was like, ‘That’s not a debut! That’s an errand!'”
Duff says she didn’t focus too much on the insane level of scrutiny she faced after giving birth because it was “just such a happy time.” She adds, “It wasn’t until later that I realized how mean and invasive it was.”
It’s not uncommon to see headlines about famous moms “debuting” their post-baby bodies or “showing off” their bikini bodies, and it speaks to the way women are objectified and expected to be at their very best every moment of the day. Many times, these women are just living their lives. They’re not trying to show off anything, and they’d honestly rather just be left alone.
As non-celebrity moms, we don’t have to deal with cameras in our faces at Target, but we do still have to contend with constant pressure to look good from society, family, and friends. Everyone wants to talk diet tips or sell us their stupid weight loss wraps because there’s just an assumption that anyone who identifies as female must be obsessed with getting skinny and looking hot all the time. If you aren’t dressed to the nines and looking flawless, then you’ve probably given up and “let yourself go.” You’re either fit to be on display, or you’re a frumpy has-been who lost herself in motherhood. What kind of bullshit is that?
Duff’s comments in Redbook might have been about dealing with pressure as a celebrity mom, but they speak to the pressure almost every mom feels every time she leaves the house. In a world that expects us to be back in our pre-baby jeans six weeks post-birth and look sexy even in the carpool line, it’s nice to see a famous mom telling it like it is. It’s not a debut every time a woman leaves the house. Sometimes it’s just an errand, and our bodies — “post-baby” or otherwise — are none of your business.
