Women's Studies Podcast Presentation

women who don't gain enough weight are considered "selfish" and that they'll hurt their baby women who gain too much are "sloppy" victoria secret angels who have given birth are watched and idolized for their ability to look like "the baby never even happened" focus on kardashian bodies post and pre partum and even kourtney addressed some of the photos were photoshopped against her knowledge that she lost all the weight.  crazy workouts suggested to lose weight  language used such as "get your body back" anytime a pregnant woman leaves her house she is "showing off" or "showing" tabloids tend to fixate on pregnancies we sexualize the women but we don't want to sexualize them in the context of procreational sex. you are expected to not look like you ever had a human inside of you dehumanizes the woman into parts of themselves, not full humans "bumps" and "weight gain/loss"  "getting your body back" is supposed to be empowering but forcing yourself into overdrive to get rid of weight that is normal into a thin empowerment stretches across societal norms.  women's image ideal has intensified with women's economic gains (ugh) women police other women, we are the "bearers of our own surveillance" we enjoy finding that others aren't perfect so we point it out because it boosts our self esteem national library of medicine's Medline+ plan to hit pre-pregnancy weight or around that weight 6 months post pregnancy give yourself until your 6 week check up to try to lose weight, or if breastfeeding, wait until your child is 2 months. your body didn't go anywhere, it has just changed!!! no more using "get your body back" jargon