http://www.theshapeofamother.com/

Go there and feel better. :)

I get the point and I DO agree with the fact that society not only wants post-partum women to hate their bodies, but women in general.

However, what if the mother WANTS these procedures? What if she thinks "hey, I had a hard 9 (10 really) months and I would love to look the way I used to". Isn't it sexist to say that she can't?

I am not criticizing the author (I like the animation). Also, the tabloids like the recent one of a new mom (she's supposed to be celebrity but I have no idea who she is) promising to be "Thin By ___!" whenever it is. Give me a fucking break. It was on the cover!

I guess my point is dual: society shouldn't impose unrealistic standards on women, but it is their body and if they want something changed they should be able to do it. (I feel if I had a baby and I worked my butt off and still had baby fat, then I would deserve to have it removed, you know?)

Pamela, nobody is saying women "can't" shell out thousands of dollars for unecessary surgery if that's what they want to do.

I guess my point is dual: society shouldn't impose unrealistic standards on women, but it is their body and if they want something changed they should be able to do it. (I feel if I had a baby and I worked my butt off and still had baby fat, then I would deserve to have it removed, you know?)

That's the problem though. In a society that didn't put unrealistic demands on women's bodies, would there be any market for this kind of surgery? You say you'd want the baby fat off, but if we lived in a society where a little baby fat is acceptable or even attractive, would you still want to get rid of it? Would you want to get rid of it badly enough to shell out thousands of dollars and take the risk of any complications that might arise?

From what I observe (from obsessively checking this site), is that there seems to be some confusion between feminists saying "X is bad for women. Here's why." versus "X is bad for women and SHOULD BE BANNED AND YOU'RE A BAD FEMINIST IF YOU THINK IT IS EVEN REMOTELY OKAY TO DO SUCH A HORRIBLE THING WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!!1!1"

If you want to wear heels/like pink/get surgery/etc, fine. We're not going to use lethal force to stop you from doing these things. I think the point is to get people to analyze WHY we do things or why certain actions/ideas are normalized in American society that might be unhealthy or negatively affect women.
Does that make sense?

I love under_zenith 's point. What if our society actively sexualized female bodies post birth, and women without a few stretch marks and extra pounds were pressured to put on weight and hurry up and have a baby so they could be Hott? What if there were was a huge demand for quick weight-gain diets and painful methods to make our breasts sag faster?

Hell, what if the look of burned skin becomes fashionable someday and people start pouring boiling water on their faces, saying that they do it for themselves and not because of society?

The point it, the people who have the procedures done are not bad or stupid or weak or anything. I'm not passing judgment on them at all. We might question what societal element or other cause leads somebody to undergo a painful, unnecessary procedure, but we do not condemn those that do.

We find certain things attractive because of our cultures. This is why some women put metal rings around their necks, elongating them to the point that they can no longer take the rings off; why some women want large hips and bellies; why some women want light skin and straight hair. It's all about what your culture calls beautiful. If a woman says she wants breast augmentation because it will make her feel better about herself, you have to ask why having smaller breasts makes her feel bad.

There is also a difference between wanting to wear a pink dress and wanting to slice off part of your nose; between wanting to eat healthfully and exercise and wanting fat forcefully sucked out of your body; between applying lotion and makeup to your face and having the skin of your face stretched taut and stapled behind your ears. I believe in a woman's choice to do what she wants, but I also question a society that says women have to have painful and life-threatening non-essential surgery to look good or feel worthy of having self-esteem.