Tess Holliday Points out an Issue With 'Post-Baby Bod' Stories
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Magazine covers, blockbuster movies, clothing lines β celebrities are usually happy to have the media flock to their debuts. But model Tess Holliday bristled over the weekend when she got attention from gossip site Radar Online for a different type of premiere.
Holliday called out Radar for writing that she "flaunted" her post-baby body at a pool party over the weekend, arguing that this level of scrutiny sets unfair expectations on new mothers to look a certain way immediately after giving birth.
In an Instagram post and a series of tweets shared on Monday, Holliday said the publication's photos fuel an unrealistic standard for new moms to get their "post-baby bod" back quickly. She delivered her son, Bowie Juniper Holliday, in June.
"Just curious, can I still 'flaunt my post baby body' when paparazzi are taking my photo without my knowledge?" she wrote, adding that the paparazzi were ultimately kicked out of the party. "I mean, I still look good but yea.. π π What is the deal with new mothers who are in the spotlight being pressured to bounce right back after GIVING BIRTH?! Get the fuck outta here- Leave our bodies alone."
She edited her post to say that she wasn't mad that the publication complimented her body, but that it perpetuated the notion that new moms should aspire to meet societal beauty standards:
"I'm criticizing the media for the pressure put on new moms, I'm not mad they said I looked good, etc., but the implication that as new mom's that's something we should strive for & be proud of."
Holliday isn't the only celebrity to have called out the media for publishing post-baby body stories.
Two years ago, actress Hilary Duff told Health that she felt pressured to "debut" her baby body the first time she left her home after giving birth to son Luca.
"The second I had Luca, I went to go get my hair blown out at the salon, and I hadn't stepped outside in, like, 15 days," Duff told the publication. "I was learning how to be a new mom, and I needed to go get my hair done. Then they're like, 'Hilary Debuts Her Post-Baby Body!' I was like, I'm not debuting shit right now. I'm just going on an errand run! There is way too much pressure on women these days. It took me a whole 10 months to build a baby."
