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Social media has created unrealistic expectations for new moms to bounce back almost immediately after giving birth.
Primrose Irwin, a young mother of two and a club dancer, is using her social media platforms to let other women know it’s okay to be “proud of it”.
This is her story:
“I was introduced to motherhood at the age of 20. The first time being a mother shaped me into who I am today.
My son and I never had a stable home, so we moved from one place to another every now and then. I was a single parent then and we were struggling financially.
An old friend introduced me into the ‘go-go dancing’ business when my son was only two months old. It was difficult at first because the dance outfits exposed all my ‘flaws’, the stretch marks, saggy breasts and the loose skin.
A lot of girls in the bathroom would tell me how I was ‘brave‘ and that they wouldn’t expose their mom bods like that.
I lost my job after three months of working there because my look didn’t match up to their ‘standards’ body wise.
After that I was very insecure and went on an extremely unhealthy diet where I lived on only solids for a couple of months.
I went from a size 34 jeans to a size 26. I promised myself I’d never put myself through such trauma ever again.
When I started working at a new club, after I’d lost all my baby weight, everyone always commented on how ‘great’ I looked.
I gave birth to my baby girl last year in May and I went back to dancing in July.
I told my boss there was absolutely nothing wrong with my body. I love everything about it and now I’m comfortable wearing outfits that don’t cover the stretch marks on my tummy, even though a lot of people have a weird way of staring at you until you feel very uncomfortable.
Either way I pretend as if I don’t see them and carry on doing my job.
A colleague usually applies foundation over her stretch marks and I always tell her she should embrace her body because it created life, that’s something other women wish their bodies could do but is impossible, so she should always be grateful.
Being a mother, a wife and a dancer isn’t child’s play because the club can be toxic sometimes and you have to learn how to control your emotions.
The environment can destroy you mentally if you let it and that affects your ability to be a good mom to your children.
Luckily I have my husband who’s overly supportive emotionally and physically. Every time I’m scrolling on Instagram and I show him how other women have beautiful bodies he always tells me that ‘I look 100 times better’.
Read more: PICS: These breathtaking body painting designs from an African festival will leave you inspired
As a mom you should never compare yourself to Instagram models, social media is a fantasy world. Everything you see there isn’y always real or authentic, a lot of people use retouching edits.
I have come across a lot of moms who don’t embrace their bodies hence I decided to share my #MomBod snap on Twitter and Instagram to show them that there’s nothing wrong with our bodies. We’ve earned them and should embrace everything about it.
We as moms shouldn’t be letting society tell us what is acceptable, not acceptable, beautiful or not beautiful.
I hope my post reached those people who body shame mom bods or any body type for that matter. We’re all beautiful and our bodies are a wonderland.
I’m all for body positivity, it means accepting your body regardless of the shape or form, size or appearance.
As long as you’re happy with yourself no one’s opinion matters and to our men, I hope you tell the mother of your kids every day how amazing their bodies look.”
