I made these primarily with the idea that they might be nice for professionals who work with new moms (OB’s, midwives, lactation consultants, doulas, etc) to have on hand, but they would also make a nice thing to send to the mamas in your life just to let you know you are thinking of them. Hope you like them!
News
SOAM in the New York Daily News
Check out the article here!
Happy Mother’s Day
To all of you beautiful mamas!
Today Show Television Story Has Been Postponed
I’ll keep SOAM’s Facebook page updated. Even if you aren’t a Facebook person you can just keep checking the page. Link is over —-> there. :)
The Today Show.com Article is Here!
Giveaway on TIAW
Have you checked it out yet? You can enter to win a copy of The Beauty of Different and spread the word about TIAW at the same time. It’s win-win!
Introducing…..!
(So it turns out that despite all the work I did last week announcing this elsewhere on the web I did not actually post it here. I feel a little like a new mom who forgot for nearly a week to let her oldest child know she’s now a big sister. That happens, right? *ahem* Anyway, I’m sneakily changing the time on the entry to make it look like I posted it before I did. Just play along.)
Introducing….. This is a Woman! The long-awaited new website, sister to SOAM, focusing on all aspects of womanhood. I’m so excited that it’s finally a reality and I’m looking forward to all the good work we will do together over there. Go check it out, spread the word, submit an entry, grab a cup of coffee and let’s talk. ?
Exciting News
In 2006, when I started this website and it went from scratch to worldwide in less than a month I was struck by the deep need for such a website to exist in this culture. Women responded to it with such emotion – relief, gratitude and love among others – that I knew we’d been craving it for generations. Almost immediately I decided I wanted to create a sister website that reflected what all women look like, even if they haven’t birthed a child. A site where women of all ages, sizes and colors have the opportunity not only to work on body and self love in more general terms than just pregnancy, but also to discuss issues like mastectomies and how it effects body love. And, of course, always showing the world what real bodies, in all their diversity, look like.
I’ve tried a couple of times to get this dream of mine going, but for reasons behind the scenes it’s never happened – until now! We are working on it as I speak and it will be up and running in the next few weeks! I’ll keep you updated on that as it progresses, but in the mean time I wanted to ask you to spread the word and to send me submissions for anything you’d like to share. Tell your grandmothers, your aunts, your little sisters – ask them to share their stories, pain, love and wisdom with us.
Over the last almost five years I’ve felt a shift in body image and, while Hollywood might not get it yet, the rest of us do. Together we can make big changes. We can heal ourselves and help the next generations toss self-hatred right out the window. I’m so excited!!
Here’s how to participate:
**Please do not submit professional photographs unless YOU are the photographer or can have the photographer e-mail me his or her permission. Due to copyright laws I cannot post photos without the photographer’s direct permission.**
By submitting an entry you agree…
…to allow me to post your photos and/or story here on this website, and you realize that this is the internet and a public forum.
…that if your photos include nudity, you are over 18 years old and were at the time the photos were taken.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
TO SUBMIT A STORY:
Email the following information to TIAWsubmissions@gmail.com!
What to include:
~Title of your entry:
~The name you want posted with your entry (“Anonymous” is fine):
~Your story or thoughts if you want to include something:
~Will you give permission to use this entry in the media, if needed? (Not necessary, but appreciated)
~If you would like me to close comments on your entry, please let me know – otherwise I will leave them open by default.
~Don’t forget to attach photos!
You may also choose to include:
~Your Age:
~Any key words (surgeries, infertility, plus-sized, health complications, etc):
SOAM to be Featured on the Today Show’s Wesbite!
Rebecca, the woman putting the story together would like to enlist your help. Here’s her message to you:
“I’m writing a story for TODAY.com, the TODAY show’s web site, about Shape of a Mother. I’ve talked to Bonnie about how she started the site, and how it’s become such an empowering experience for women to accept the changes in their body and find their beauty after having children. I’d love to talk to some women who have sent in photos to Shape of a Mother: What inspired you to send your photo? How did you feel about sharing it with the world? Did your experience change the way you feel about your body? Why do you think this web site is important?
“I would love to hear your thoughts – my e-mail address is Rebecca.dube@msnbc.com. Please include your first and last name, your age and the number of children you have. Thanks very much, and I look forward to hearing from you!”
A Comment Left Today by Rosie
Rosie just left this comment on an entry from a few days ago. I love it so much I want to marry it. I found myself nodding along with her the entire time, it’s so true to everything I believe that I decided to post it here as an entry of its own. (Paragraph separations and bold are mine.)
The entire first paragraph is vital to understand other women – no matter what we look like, we struggle with it. It’s not a reflection on others, period. I wrote to someone on Facebook the other day that if you put two identical women in a room together they’d declare the other beautiful while picking apart every flaw they could find on themselves. It’s an internal conflict that, at it’s truest heart, has less to do with body image and far more to do with our ability to love ourselves wholly.
The last paragraph has a universal truth that I bolded for emphasis. Read it. Listen to it. I mean REALLY listen. With your deepest heart.
Thank you, Rosie, for writing this.
“Its very complex isn’t it because obviously even if a woman still looks fit and slim and relatively unchanged in appearance her feelings of self loathing are still very real to her. Invalidating those feelings can often lead to an even louder cry of anguish, a feeling that no-one else understands or sees what she sees. But the thing that really pisses me off is that its not her fault. We live in such a crap culture where ideas of what is beautiful or normal are so narrow that even this young gorgeous woman thinks she is undesirable.
We women need to be so courageous, to stand up and not be ashamed of ourselves and not hide our bodies so the idea of beautiful and normal can expand. I’ve had three kids including a set of twins I carried for 39 and a half weeks. I have stretch marks over my hips, twin skin round my belly button that wrinkles when i lean forward and a big bottom and thighs but I wear a bikini when I go swimming. I eat very well and exercise and look after myself. Why should i be ashamed?
But it still takes huge amounts of courage to expose yourself because every other woman who looks like me is covering up in shame! To be honest even women who look like this(with a slightly imperfect belly) would likely be covering up and that is sooo sad (where does that leave the rest of us?).
I don’t think its because of what men expect from us. I know good men see the whole woman. I also separated from the father of my kids and went through these fears. Now I am with a man who is younger than me and everyone says is really gorgeous and he is totally into me. So who are we hiding from, who are we scared of. Shallow crap men that you wouldn’t want to be with anyway? Its not easy but I say we need to have the courage to expect the best for ourselves whatever we look like. To me that means being with a man who sees me as beautiful and desirable as a friend and as a lover. And knowing also that its OK to be alone until that comes along.”