Women across the world are promoting body positivity with their #mombod photos on social media. Photos / Instagram: lizz_wb, lindanieuws
Women across the world are promoting body positivity with their #mombod photos on social media. Photos / Instagram: lizz_wb, lindanieuws
Women have hit back at the rising 'dad bod' trend by sharing pictures of their own bodies, in all their curvy, healthy glory, on social media and labelling them with the hashtag #MomBod.
With the celebration of flabby 'dad bods' gaining national media attention in recent weeks, hundreds of mothers, as well as sisters, daughters, aunts and grandmothers, are turning the trend on its head in order to promote body confidence and celebrate natural beauty.
"Ain't supporting a #dadbod until there is an equal craze over #MOMBOD bc men cannot glorify beer bellies and demand trophy wives [sic]," one woman wrote on Twitter. Another woman, Susanna, who posted three beautiful images of herself in a bra and jeans, laughing around with a young boy, as part of an Instagram collage, commented alongside the post: "I give you the #mombod.
"This morning I was so angry at the phenomenon #dadbod that I cried. Not about the dadbod itself, but the idea. Some famous men drift around at the beach and look like most people do and someone has reacted and thought: Wow! Half-fat and they still get women and the world still thinks of them as hot. (Of course they're male.) [sic]"
She went on to add that many women who don't boast model-esque physiques are criticised for being "unhealthy" and are accused of failing to take care of their bodies.
"Today I think of how since I was twelve I always valued myself based on how I look, and always, always tried to change myself," she explained.
"Up 2 kg, 5 kg down 6 kg up 3 kg down. This constant struggle against my own body and the self-contempt. I know that it is only me who decides if I look as good in size 27 as in size 30 or 34 or whatever. But it sure isn't easy to love yourself as a woman in this world.
Carly told Daily Mail Online of her mom bod picture: "When I had posted the picture on Facebook I had many people comment on it suggesting to me that I get rid of or cover up my stretch marks.
"I was very frustrated that I was trying to show people that self love is important and they were telling me to edit myself! The amount of support I have gotten in response has been INCREDIBLE! Support mom bod! [sic]"
Another Instagram user, who posted a picture of her stomach, said: "My body wasn't perfect to begin with and it isn't perfect now.
"I wasn't happy where I was before and I'm not happy where I am now. This is my #MomBod, I have carried life. My stomach grew for 9 months with a miracle. I wasn't one of those 'lucky' girls that bounced back to being ridiculously skinny with no stretch marks. This is my body, it will take time to learn to love it. [sic]"
Aila, whose Instagram account is full of proud pictures of her body, commented on one post: "Let's put a stop to this right now. Let's stop celebrating the terrible standard that is the Dadbod. There's no such thing as a Dadbod.
"No father has had to carry a baby in his tummy for forty weeks. No father has had his stomach muscles distend and completely rearrange themselves from having a baby grow in it. No father has gotten stretch marks from having his stomach grow ridiculously and suddenly collapse after childbirth.
"Celebrating the Dadbod is an insult to mothers whose bodies have been permanently altered by giving birth. This is my stomach today, with a higher per cent of body fat than I have in months, but even at my most ripped, I'll still have stretch marks and loose skin that I won't be able to completely eliminate.
"This is a Mombod. This is a body that has gone through the rigors of childbirth. Celebrating the Dadbod is a disservice to every mom because it takes absolutely no effort nor sacrifice to get it. It's an insult to every hardworking dad who's trying to shed that belly fat (the kind that puts you most at risk for heart ailments) with diet and exercise.
"Let's stop this foolishness now and stop our standards from sagging even lower in a society where everything seems to be okay. #dadbod #mombod #noexcuses #mothersday [sic]"
The flurry of positive social media posts comes just days after comedian Akilah Hughes' debuted her satirical video, Move Over Dad Bod, Mom Bod Is The New Hot Bod, which highlights the harsh double standard regarding men's and women's bodies, while criticising society's expectation that female figures should always be perfect.
"If you're a woman, you can be proud of your boobs, or your butt, or your lips, or your thigh gap, but not yourself or your body as a whole because you're not a person," she explains in the clip, which was shared on the Fusion YouTube channel last Thursday.
The dad bod trend received national media coverage after Clemson University sophomore Mackenzie Pearson used the phrase to describe a specific type of unfit male physique that she claimed women are 'crazy about' in an article for The Odyssey.
Akilah's video, which is made to look like a news telecast, sees her reporting on what is 'trending now', with the dad bod phenomenon featuring as the main topic of conversation.
"Move over dad bod, there's a new sheriff in town. Meet the mom bod, a way to describe the woman who has let her middle school prepubescent body fall to the wayside," she says.
When a picture of a woman's body pops up onto the screen, Akilah notes: "Behind the small, manageable layer of pudge, you can tell that this chick once dieted to extremes to conform to societal norms".
In the spoof, Mackenzie's Why Girls Love The Dad Bod article has been transformed into a similar piece entitled Why Boys Love The Mom Bod, which was written by a 'random 19-year-old'.
Akilah goes on to read portions of the fictional article, in which a teenage boy describes the mom bod physique as "nice balance between child baring hips and community Zumba".
Akilah says that the only the way the mom bod trend will slow down is if the media decides "on the fly" that women should want some other "unattainable body".
She explains that the media will bombard women with ads, products and diets that will inevitably make them feel insecure and "turn all that positive mom bod energy into self-loathing and despair".
And when it comes to men's bodies, she says "the media loves to congratulate men for looking like sweaty, sloppy monsters that don't try hard at anything".
Akilah ends the video by noting: "If you are one of the small number of women whose body fits into an arbitrary appearance trend, you really better ride that wave all the way to the bank because we know all too well that the economy doesn't thrive on your happiness."
