Jameela Jamil has long been a champion of body positivity, using her social media platforms to call out brands like Avon for shaming women into disliking their bodies and promoting self-acceptance and health through her movement, I Weigh. And while the actor, who stars in The Good Place, loves sending an uplifting message, she rarely does so with a filter — which is exactly how she approached the differences in how society approaches dad bods and mom bods while at #BlogHer Health 2019.
Type “celebrity dad bod” into Google, and you’ll find dozens of articles praising Hollywood hotshots like Adam Devine, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jason Segel — none of whom are even dads, by the way — for their not-so-chiseled physiques. Meanwhile, moms everywhere in Tinsel Town are subjected to constant criticisms every time they’re not photographed with a gym bag or green juice in their hands. What gives?
“We photograph men in HD on the cover of magazines, because their wrinkles make them look so sexy and dignified,” Jamil lamented during her interview. “And the dad bod — we love the dad bod!”
Uh, hello, women have wrinkles too. You just wouldn’t notice under all the airbrushing or the 27 sheet masks we’re expected to wear to give us a flawless glow.
“We don’t give men these things to worry about,” Jamil added. “They sleep more than us, they don’t wake up early to do their hair and their makeup, and they don’t think about food all the time. They’re not afraid of food. They eat enough food. What are we doing?”
We can’t break down the entirety of systemic sexism in a single post, but we can answer one element: Society sure as hell isn’t celebrating moms on the same level as dads.
“Where’s the mom bod love?” Jamil demanded. “Fuck the snap back. You made a human being. You’re a fucking miracle!”
https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1089008809991798784
Can we get a “Hell yes!“?! It’s about time celebrities (and society as a whole) started acknowledging that moms are heroes. Their bodies spent nine months growing, feeding and housing another human before further expanding itself to deliver said human into the world. That is some straight-up magical shit that deserves our appreciation. Instead, people who give birth of all ages (and gender identities) are fed this idea that they have to “bounce back” to their pre-pregnancy weight while also being expected to keep a clean house, get their children everywhere they need to be and maintain a glowing Instagram presence. Give us a break.
From here on out, let’s all channel our inner Jamil and give both the patriarchy and its unrealistic body expectations the middle finger.
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