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In our society, women are under immense pressure to look a certain way. In particular, their bodies face criticism and bullying from so many different avenues, including coworkers, health professionals and of course, online commenters. To be a female is to understand that your body oftentimes doesn’t feel as though it belongs to you, given that it’s prodded and mocked in so many ways, no matter what it looks like.
Chontel Duncan, a mother-of-two and founder of HIIT Australia, is taking back ownership of her own physique and shutting down haters with an Instagram photo of her post-baby body.
Duncan is extremely passionate about fitness and her full-time job is working as the director of HIIT Australia. HIIT classes involve high intensity interval training and they’re constructed to focus on building muscle, strength and ability.
Duncan is also a mom to two boys. She recently gave birth to Swayde just over a month ago.
Just two weeks after Swayde’s birth, she shared a jaw-dropping photo of her body progress.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ-HtXoAR-p/?hl=en&taken-by=chontelduncan
Immediately, she noticed that cyberbullies seemed to poke at her and question her, with some saying that her post-birth snapback was fake, despite detailing her different workouts, strategies and fitness tips. She decided to speak out and speak up for herself with an Instagram post weeks later, this one of her body a little over five weeks after birth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ba2fw2SAjU0/?hl=en&taken-by=chontelduncan
In the caption, Duncan told followers that she has “loved” being able to stay home and recover. She also answered a few different questions about her post-natal process, including info about scarring and nutrition.
Duncan decided to address any comments about her body being “fake.” She admits that she doesn’t have the typical post-baby body, but she also says that she doesn’t live a typical life, having made fitness a very inherent part of her everyday routine.
Duncan’s workouts are mainly comprised of HIIT routines, some of which she actually did while pregnant.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVnwVOhlrCC/?hl=en&taken-by=chontelduncan
In the end, Duncan is proving that bodies are individual properties, each beautiful in their own way. Whether or not you snap back immediately isn’t the issue, it’s the sense of entitlement over women’s bodies and their agency in doing whatever they choose.
Will everyone look like Chontel Duncan a month after giving birth? Hell no. Not everyone should. Your body is your own and you should exist, pressure-free.
