Ah, the body-shamers. Always there to make us women feel like crap if we don’t look like some photoshopped, airbrushed supermodel.
I was watching the Super Bowl last night with three other moms. And the minute we saw Lady Gaga bare her belly, we collectively started grinning.
“I love her stomach,” I said.
“Yes!” My friend Jacquie agreed.
I mean, how incredibly awesome to see Gaga proudly show her abs? Her normal, healthy abs. I wanted to jump through the TV and thank her. Thank her for making me feel normal.
I’ve felt very insecure about my stomach since having kids. I gained 65 pounds with my first and nearly as much with my second. And my abs never really recovered. I have stretch marks. And loose skin. And my stomach pooches over my pants a bit, just like Lady Gaga’s (or actually, a LOT more than Lady Gaga’s). And you know what? I’m sick of feeling like crap about it. I’m sick of society making me feel like there’s something wrong with me, or I’m not beautiful, because my body bears the marks of making two human beings.
Shortly after we celebrated the awesomeness that was Lady Gaga’s teeny, tiny belly roll, one of my friends remarked that she was going to catch hell for it. And of course she did. The body-shamers came out to troll her. And that sucks.
So this is my cry to cut it out. Stoppit. I don’t want to hear some man’s opinion about Lady Gaga’s—or any other woman’s—stomach ever again. I don’t want to hear one woman tearing another down because she has an inch (or twenty) of skin around her middle.
And to Lady Gaga I say, THANK YOU! Thank you for being real. For being raw. For being you. The world needs more of that.
Wonderfully said!
Thank you, xo
Imagine how she feels . There was nothing ‘fat ‘ about her . She may have a ‘ mound of Venus ‘ which was the womanly term for it in my day . It’s our vulnerability our feminists our badge of child bearing . Her legs are stunning , she has stamina and was daringly athletic . Her performance was off the charts , what an immense talent .
Somewhere along time , we were all shamed for this . News flash : look at Hollywood movie stars from the 50’s and 60’s …hello Marilyn Monroe .
What should be body shamed is the anorexic provoking modeling industry and their mags .
I meant feminine
AMEN!!!!! Preach it.
Hell YES I say!!
The models themselves should never be body shamed, only the expectations of the industry. Many women are extremely thin, or more curvaceous. I day no to ANY body shaming. We’re all beautiful in our own way. #Nobodyshaming #selfacceptance #allsizesarebeautiful
YES!!! I was incredibly skinny as a child and young adult and people used to say, “Ew, you’re so disgusting” to me ALL. THE. TIME. Hearing that as a 10-year-old girl hurts. A lot.
I smiled to when I saw it too! I feel the same way. She is amazing and I have a lot of respect for her after that performance.
She rocked it!!!
As a physician, I was so happy to see a normal healthy athletic woman unafraid to show the world what that looks like. My daughter, 16, is already dealing with body shaming at school. I pointed out to her how great Lady Gaga looked and how strong, athletic, and unafraid she was to show it.
One of the most frustrating things I deal with on a daily basis is the fear that people have that I will fuss at them because of their weight. I spend most of my time telling people every day to establish a healthy diet and healthy exercise plan. I emphasize that you do not need to be perfect, nor do you need to be a supermodel. You need to be healthy. That’s it. Keep being healthy, like Lady Gaga. I want to thank her for showing a normal healthy female athletic body.
I love that there are doctors like you out there supporting healthy bodies of ALL shapes and sizes.
I love that she showed her stomach. I have a 10 yr old daughter who already thinks she’s fat because she has a small belly roll like that. I used it as an example and told her”See, girls are supposed to have that, even Lady Gaga has a belly roll.” I’m tired of everyone fat shaming women for not having “perfect” bodies. Our differences are what make us all beautiful and unique.
I’m so sick of it too!
Yes! I wasn’t the only one that loved it! She’s a genuine superstar. Love the the fact that she did not lip sync!
I cannot IMAGINE how she sang that live and danced and ran around like that!!! So impressed. I get winded from shooting my little parody videos and my moves got NOTHING on Gaga. 🙂
Whether it’s positive or negative, it’s sad that her stomach is even being discussed/written about at all. After so much recent support for women’s equality, here we are, still dealing with women paying too much attention to how another woman’s body looks.
One of the guys I was watching the game with mentioned that she had a belly. So I said like you should talk. Shut him up pretty quick. Wtg lady gaga