Brittany Aäe, an endurance athlete and coach, was fed up with being called “small” despite being 39 weeks pregnant and broke her silence. Although her pregnancy was full, Brittany’s abs were still visible and it drove people to tell her she must be doing something wrong.
But when she saw Tess Holiday’s baby bump, also at 39 weeks, Brittany realized that no woman was spared from body shaming. Brittany took to Instagram to discuss this culture with a side-by-side photo captioned, “Why does society shame women whose bodies do not adhere to some narrow notion of false normalcy?”
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“I am a big fangirl of Tess’s—she’s gorgeous, and she is intelligent, and I realized that we were at this same stage of our pregnancies and people were shaming both of us for our sizes,” she told Elle.com. Brittany also applauded Holiday’s #EffYourBeautyStandards movement.
The athletic mom, who is an active mountain climber based in Washington, explained she posted the photo on her Instagram because she was tired of “the general idea that women’s bodies are somehow public property.” Brittany felt like this after receiving a lot of unwanted advice from individuals who were concerned after learning she was continuing her professional training during her pregnancy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BD0pfrhJ5pT/
Brittany shared her experience on social media with the hashtag #pregnantultrarunning and her blog. “My body is not just a fetus carrier. I am also another being,” she said. Her main goal was to eliminate the notion that working out while pregnant is something to fear. “My body is not just a fetus carrier. I am also another being,” said Brittany.
It’s also the reason why she has posted photos of her body postpartum. It’s been a month since she’s given birth but she’s already back to her pre-baby size! Brittany insists though, it’s not to brag, but to inspire others.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BG5SRlgp5kE/?taken-by=__magneticnorth__
“What I am doing right now is I am ignoring what society says about the female body, and allowing physiology to take over—and our physiology is really strong!” she said. “The female body is the ultimate endurance athlete. People were just not thinking about pregnancy like that.”
“They were thinking about it in terms of a symptomatic experience, and not one of growth,” Brittany continued. “I want to share this really positive, supportive experience with people, while communicating that this is possible for anyone.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BE3wMVRp5v9/?taken-by=__magneticnorth__
