Gisele and New-Mom Body Issues

It was Gisele who put me over the edge. There I was, flipping through Vogue as I walked on the treadmill, feeling pretty good about myself for getting to the gym. The baby was at the sitter’s, since he has no love for the gym daycare.

Then I saw it: a softly lit, black & white photo of the Brazilian supermodel cradling her naked newborn. In the pic, Gisele is sporting cashmere boy-shorts and a bare midriff.

Let’s set aside for a moment the utter impracticality of cashmere underwear and focus on the really disturbing part: her perfectly toned BARE MIDRIFF. On a NEW MOM. I flew into a Google frenzy trying to find out when the photos were taken. Maybe the baby was 10 mos. old? Nope. I believe they were taken when he was about 3 mos. old.

This means Gisele hadn’t spent half a year on a high-intensity diet and exercise program. She didn’t have time for a tummy tuck. The photo didn’t appear to be excessively airbrushed. I couldn’t even claim she was wearing a triple-layer of Spanx under her clothes. Because she was flaunting her flat, BARE MIDRIFF.

Now, you should know that I’m not one of those people who’s against thin models. I don’t want to look at people like me in magazines. I don’t need to see any more stretch marks and stomach flab, thankyouverymuch. HOWEVER.

Showing a new mom who, I’d venture to guess, looks completely unlike 99% of the new-mom population is a low blow. I mean, yay for Gisele, but imagine all those normal, exhausted postpartum women reading her interview in which she chalks up her superhuman post-baby physique to “muscle memory.”

Right. I guess my muscles have amnesia, then, because even 15 mos. post-birth I am not ready to bare my midriff. In fact, my belly button will never again see the light of day in this LIFETIME, mark my words.

It was shortly after the Gisele incident that heard about a book called “Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? The Essential Guide to Loving Your Body Before and After Baby,” by Claire Mysko (a new mom herself) and Magali Amadeï (an international model, BTW).

Drawing from interviews with more than 400 women and men, as well as their own experiences, the authors set out to forewarn expectant moms “what to expect from your changing body, as well as a reality check for each stage of your pregnancy, exposing the myths, challenges, and insecurities you'll face throughout pregnancy and beyond—and what to do about them.”

I can tell you unequivocally that based on the search-engine traffic to my “Pregnancy Butt” post, those of us with pregnancy-related body issues are not alone. In fact, I’m so interested in this topic that I plan to do a Q&A with author Claire Mysko, former director of the American Anorexia Bulimia Association, in the near future. If there are any questions you’d like me to ask her, jot ’em down in the comments.

READ O’ THE WEEK: Pregnancy magazine ran an excerpt of the book recently, called “The Big Lies of the Bump Watch” Sample quote: “Airbrushed images of slim celebrity moms also give us a very warped view of what a new mother’s body really looks like. Short of wearing blinders or moving to a remote village, there’s no way to block out the baby-weight coverage completely, but for new moms and moms-to-be, it’s important to keep a healthy perspective.”