
Another Ad Campaign Spotlights the Unretouched Bodies of New Moms
Written by Erin Feher
Photography by Photographed by Sophie Mayanne for Mothercare
The walls, escalators, and LCDs screens in more than 30 London subway stations were recently plastered with larger-than-life photos of women in their underwear. But instead of the standard highly sexualized, photoshopped models, the women are new moms, proudly bearing their stretch marks, c-sections scars, and extra curves. The ad campaign, dubbed Body Proud Mums, is for Mothercare, the U.K.’s top retailer of baby gear. The photos are overlaid with the text “Beautiful, isn’t she?” while the accompanying social media campaign features the stories of each mom in her own words. Kesia, who posed for the photos 17 weeks after giving birth, holds her baby in the images and writes: “I always knew my body would be different after giving birth, however, I didn’t expect my mind to take so long to get used to seeing myself…I wanted to take part to show people that it is normal to look like this after having a baby. I want to show the baby is more important than the marks!”
And while the responses have been mostly positive (“Yes mothercare!! This is exactly what I want to see as a new mum!!!!” comments @sophiespiegler on Instagram; “Love these photos. I’m 57 and have four children. I wish I had seen photos like this in my thirties so that I would have know I was normal and BEAUTIFUL!” comments @soup_an_yay) there has been a small but searing backlash against the campaign. And the criticism is coming from some unexpected places: Writer and mother Tracey Clark-Foy took aim at the campaign in a recent piece she wrote for Jezebel (where she is a senior staff writer) and, as these things go, opened a floodgate of cheers and jeers in the comment section.
What exactly does Clark-Foy take issue with? One, she believes the campaign is not as groundbreaking as people are giving it credit for. Clark-Foy writes, “There is nothing bold about this advertising campaign, the least of which is because it follows a surge in using ‘body positivity’ and ’empowerment’ and ‘feminism’ to sell women shit.” But her real issue is that it’s not doing much to dismantle the concept of the ideal female form—that these sometimes shocking post-baby-body photos are akin to trading war stories while showing off battle wounds. She writes, “After all, ‘brutally honest’ post-pregnancy photos—the ones with stretch marks and c-section scars—so often feature a partially-nude woman holding her baby. The not-so-subtle subtext reads: I sacrificed this for this. These photos tell a righteous tale of maternal sacrifice, of women who let themselves go for the only reason women are ever supposed to let themselves go (and not just physically, either): motherhood. The baby—held to the chest, feet dangling above a zig-zag of stretch marks—is redemption. These ‘brutally honest’ moms have just returned from battle clutching their war medals. They’re heroes whose scars are honorable.”
Some commenters joined in the revolt, though it wasn’t always clear if they were mothers (or even women). “I hate this whole ‘you make sacrifices of vanity to have a baby’ stuff. This campaign plays to people’s insecurities and it’s stupid and sexist. Having a baby is a crazy, wild, and yes, natural thing,” and “I don’t want to see a marketing ploy disguised as a ‘project’ of new moms coming to terms with their postpartum bodies designed to sell a product. It’s just marketing, pandering to a demographic of women they think will buy.”
While others didn’t want the perfect to be the enemy of the good. “I have mixed feelings about this. I really struggled with the weight gain of pregnancy, and felt huge and tremendous pressure to slim down ASAP once my baby was born. I really struggled with how I looked. I think I would have benefited from seeing more diverse images, even if they were selling something. I guess I just didn’t see that many images of women’s bodies other than the ones in a typical magazine ad. And the postpartum bodies that were celebrated at the time were those women who got down to their pre pregnancy weight within weeks, which I just could not do.”
These days, it should come as no surprise that any attention-grabbing campaign should generate controversy—sometimes that’s quite literally the goal. But the Mothercare campaign was carried out thoughtfully and designed to make its customers feel good, even if they hope it leads to them buying more stuff. Prior to launching the campaign, Mothercare surveyed 1,500 mothers, with 80 percent of them saying they compare themselves to celebrities and feel the pressure to ‘bounce back’ to their pre-birth look and size. And Mothercare worked with photographer Sophie Mayanne, a 25-year-old photographer who became known for a portrait series she did called “Behind the Scars”, in which she lovingly turned her lens on the bodies of burn victims, cancer survivors, amputees, and more. Sophie clearly states on her website that she has “pledged to no longer digitally manipulate bodies or skin in her photographic work as of October 12th, 2017.” She told us she made that decision after a model she worked with shared her struggles with health and weight loss. “At the time I worked with her, I was quite new to the industry, and would edit my images in a similar way to the others that I saw—and at the time, looked up to,” says Mayanne. “I decided that I was, on a personal level, contributing to negative body image, and needed to be as honest as I could be in all of the photographs I take.” Asked what type of effect she hopes this new campaign will have, she responded, “I think it’s important that everybody has someone to relate to in advertising. We are all individual, but a likeness to someone else helps us feel like we belong, and listening to other’s experiences that may be similar to our own offers us comfort, and validation.”
So, while no one should ever conflate corporate marketing campaigns for charity work, it’s refreshing to see companies making choices to be more inclusive and hopefully try and undo some of the damage done by decades of presenting a whitewashed ideal of womanhood. Click through the slideshow below to view all the images for yourself.
For more thoughtful reads on the body politics of mothers, check out these words from real women on their changed forms, a first-person essay on what one mom didn’t expect after expecting, and read up on maternity brand Storq’s decision to no longer alter its photos.
- "I feel ok about my body, but I would be lying if I said I was 100% happy about the way it looks right now but that's more due to fitness than anything else. During pregnancy I adored my changing body, I loved my bump but did worry about how it would all change once I gave birth. Once I did give birth, I felt like my old body had died, my confidence was on the floor. I had endured my first operation of my life in order for my child to be born so I was scarred, my stomach was lined with angry looking stretch marks and my belly felt and looked like a popped balloon. I was devastated and didn't think I would feel that way at all. It took several months for me to even let my partner see me naked, I can't believe I felt so ashamed. Now, I’m learning that this is the new me. My stretch marks are going nowhere and nor is my scar, they are reminders that without them I wouldn't have my son. I can always lose the excess weight, but for now I'm too busy enjoying my boy."
- “I wanted to do this partly for my own self-confidence, to help with acceptance of my scars and new life. Also, I wanted to bring some attention to post-natal disease and complications. Giving birth caused me to go into sudden liver failure, due to a rare pregnancy related disease. I had to have an emergency liver transplant and spent the first month of my daughter’s life in hospital in London away from her. My shape has changed since giving birth, my scar causes my stomach to be a little disfigured and I lost most of my muscles from being in the hospital bed so long. Sometimes my scar reminds me of the surgery and the difficult recovery I had in my daughter’s early months. However, it’s also a wonderful reminder of how generous other people can be, because without someone’s decision to donate organs I would not have survived to be here with my family now.”
- “Before giving birth I was very preoccupied with my figure. I worked out a lot and I had very high expectations of myself. Throughout my pregnancy I was shocked at how much changed and it was hard to accept the changes. I had a healthy pregnancy, but it was hard. My belly was full term size at 6 months and it kept growing. I found it really hard to walk and I constantly had people stare in shock at my size. I even had strangers make comments on the size of my tummy. Since giving birth my body image has changed, and I am proud of my body for holding 2 babies. They were born at full term and no health issues. I don’t mind having tummy wrinkles, it’s a small price to pay for these beautiful little girls. To watch my babies grow and achieve their baby milestones inspires me to be healthy and happy and do my best for them—not what social standards tell me I should be.”
- ”I actually love my body. It has done the most amazing thing, and I acknowledge and honour what it has created for me. Any marks left are a welcome reminder of our journey. I was very lucky and had what could be regarded as the ideal pregnancy. I have fibromyalgia, and the hormones from pregnancy made all my pain go away, which was even more amazing for me. The best part of being a mother is seeing my baby’s happy little face each morning. I love the way he looks at me, like he knows how much I love him and he feels safe with me."
- “I loved the idea of celebrating post-partum bodies. I have always struggled internally with my weight and how I feel about myself. I put on 4 ½ stone in pregnancy and have lost about 2 ½ so far. How can I hate my body when it has given me my beautiful baby boy? My body has done something amazing, and to me that’s the most empowering thing. I feel like I’m doing this for all the mums who wear baggy tops or cry when they look in the mirror. To say: you are amazing! I just say to people it took me 9 months to make him—he’s my priority. It will come off, it just takes time. It’s the people who don’t have children who judge the most. Other mums support each other and tell them they are awesome!”
- "I am not a fan of my new body. Before birth I was muscular and worked out a lot. Now I don’t have time to work out and everything feels saggier! I didn’t expect to feel suddenly so old and droopy! I know it will come back with time and dedication to exercise again, but right now all I want to do is cover up with baggy clothes. Every day I feel pressure to bounce back. Society, social media, people’s comments all make you feel that way. All over social media it shows these perfect bodies saying they’ve had children and now bounced back so quickly. I myself remember being really surprised when Kate Middleton came out of the hospital holding Prince George. She had the baby bump, and I remember being surprised that your belly doesn’t just go down after giving birth. I also thought how stupid I was to have ever thought it would. I guess pre children you just have unrealistic expectations. I also put pressure on myself to try and get my body back, but as I slowly transition into motherhood I am realising that it’s actually not that important, and I just need to be OK in my own skin rather than worrying about what everyone else thinks."
- "The inspiration behind being part of this project is to show those around me that stretch marks and weight gain don’t define us, that we should embrace our strength and beauty. I am a young mother with many influential people around me, and together we can see the beauty of motherhood. I have always loved my body no matter what, and my friends would look up to me for that. Pre-pregnancy, I had nice curves and my skin was smooth. During pregnancy my body changed dramatically, not just in weight but also my breasts and skin, in the ways that aren’t considered to be beautiful. I’ve seen people on social media bounce back significantly and speedily to their pre-pregnancy weight, so of course I feel the pressure to do so too. I have found it difficult to see my body in the same way, but as the days go by, I am a few steps closer. I didn’t expect my body to change as much as it did, but I would most definitely do it all over again."
- "I always knew my body would be different after giving birth, however, I didn’t expect my mind to take so long to get used to seeing myself. I was never 'skinny' but I put on more weight than I thought I would. A lot of friends had babies close to me and they post online about their bodies, and I do feel upset sometimes that I haven’t bounced back in the same way they have. I know every woman is different and I am not as hard on myself anymore. I wanted to take part to show people that it is normal to look like this after having a baby. I want to show the baby is more important than the marks!"
- "Being a mum of six is a blessing and knowing how my body has changed in the last 7 years is really amazing in so many different ways. Hard work to grow a tiny human, and then going back to normal full time function deserves a celebration, and gratitude towards my body. So when I heard about the campaign I felt inspired to be a part of it, regardless! I don’t measure up to what society tells me should be the ideal. I feel people need to put less pressure on mums to go back to their previous bodies before the babies and worry about their overall health mentally, emotionally and physically, to live a fulfilling life in order to give love and care for the new life. I’m happy with my body, and only have an umbilical hernia that needs to be repaired due to my twin pregnancy, but other than that maybe I need to exercise when I get more time, as I need more energy to look after my six children. I don’t feel different after giving birth—I feel the same and feel happier even though I gained lots of weight afterwards. It’s rewarding to be able to produce fruits and look after them!"
- “Having been a small size all my life with a flat belly and slim legs and arms, I did feel under pressure to ‘bounce-back’ to my pre-birth body. Some people laughed at my new body and I felt insecure. I did feel embarrassed and I tried to hide my body. My back and down there still feels sore from time to time, my breasts look bigger and I have stretch marks on my thighs and stomach. I never expected to feel this way. You never understand the changes your body goes through during and after pregnancy until you embark on this journey yourself. At first the changes are scary. Then I realised that the changes are normal. My body doesn’t have to ‘bounce-back’ to my pre-birth body as long as I’m healthy. I realised my stretch marks are a sign of beauty and I learnt to accept myself. I am happy with the changes. And I am happy to share my scars with the rest of the world to show them that they are normal and beautiful. Flaunt that body with a smile and confidence!”
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