Blake Lively has revealed her frustration at society’s expectations of what a woman’s body should look like after giving birth, describing the pressure to slim down as “unfair”.
Appearing on Australian morning show ‘Sunrise’ on Wednesday (August 11th), the 28 year old actress, who is currently pregnant with her second child with her husband Ryan Reynolds, was promoting her new movie The Shallows.
It was filmed a few months after Lively had given birth to her first daughter James, who is now 19 months old. When the interviewer complimented her on her bikini-ready figure in the movie, she questioned why it was that every woman was increasingly expected to look like that.
Blake Lively called out societal expectations over what women should look like after they’ve had a baby
“It’s so unfair though, because it’s so celebrated,” she said. “It’s like, this is what someone can look like after a baby. I think a woman’s body after having a baby is pretty amazing.”
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Lively believes that women should not feel pressured to snap straight back into their pre-baby body shapes, because they’ve just created life and should be encouraged to savour the experience rather than feel pre-occupied with weight loss.
“You don’t need to be Victoria’s Secret ready right away because you just did the most incredible miracle that life has to offer,” the former ‘Gossip Girl’ actress said. “I mean, you gave birth to a human being! So I would really like to see that celebrated.”
Earlier this week, Anne Hathaway – who recently welcomed her first child – embraced the same topic when she posted an inspiration message on Instagram.
“There is no shame in gaining weight during pregnancy (or ever),” she captioned a photo. “There is no shame if it takes longer than you think it will to lose the weight (if you want to lose it at all).”
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