Mom Of 5 Shares Her Belly Photo To Celebrate The Beauty Of Woman Body
Even though we live in a world largely run by the beauty industry, it’s certainly not all about diets, fitness, and make-up. Some things have way more depth than any of those conventional beauty things being pushed into our daily routines by the market. Sometimes there’s way more life and beauty in a wrinkle than in a fresh, polished face. Brenda Stearns, Instagrammer and a proud mama of 5, is here to show you that the beauty of womanhood is way more than just a perfect body and that everyone is perfect in their own wonderful way.
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Brenda Stearns is a Mexican-born mama of 5
This mama of Mexican origin moved to the US years ago and started a family by a lucky little accident. She once accidentally texted the wrong number and in a twist of faith ended up marrying the guy behind the phone, Isaiah.
Who recently shared her postpartum belly photo on the Internet
The couple had their first baby back in 2011 and their second a year later. Both of the first births left Cesarean scars on Brenda’s body. She then gave birth three more times in 2014, 2015 and 2018. All of these were natural unmedicated births.
While giving birth to five kids left some marks on her body
The happy family now lives in Ohio, raising and homeschooling their kids there. It doesn’t mean it was sunshine and rainbows all the way there though. Brenda admits she suffered from postpartum depression after her body was not getting back to her pre-baby shape after she gave birth to her 5th child.
She is a strong believer in the beauty of motherhood
Luckily, she then decided to stop focusing on that and accept her body how it really is. “The reality is that my body is strong and beautiful and so is yours,” said she, inspiring other mamas to think positively about their bodies, too. “Abs and flat tummies are great! But have you ever considered that your body literally rearranged its organs to bring another life into the world,” she added.
And says that every mother is beautiful in her own way, despite having scars or not
“There are mamas that will never wear the scars of pregnancy and birth. If that’s you: I want you to know that you are no less of a mother. You are loved, you are strong, you are brave, and you are oh so beautiful!” said Brenda.
Even though she’s been told by some that her postpartum body is not beautiful
To remind herself of the beauty of her motherhood, she took a photo with a card, saying, “Hey mama, you are beautiful” and posted it on social media, saying, “It doesn’t matter what our bodies look like at this present moment — it’s time to celebrate our own beauty!
This beautiful mama spreads the message of positivity, saying there is no such thing as ideal beauty
Despite her positive content, not everyone was happy about seeing her postpartum pictures online. But Brenda just laughed it off and stuck to the most important thing – always remembering that her children don’t see her imperfections, they rather see her as the whole person she is.
Her meaningful messages earned her almost 40K Instagram followers
“They know our hearts and love us unconditionally. And that is all that matters,” Brenda said. These are words to live by in this age of fraudulent beauty. Hooray to this beautiful mama and her wonderful family!
Who are keen on hearing her beautiful stories
See how people lovingly reacted to the postpartum images she shared
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This will no doubt be an unpopular view but I also don't think large families should be promoted. Houses are being built at an alarming rate on green belt land in my country due to housing shortages. Floods are occuring not simply because of large amounts of rain but because housing is preventing the land from draining. The planet doesn't need ever increasing numbers of humans causing more and more harm. So, shoot me down, I'm expecting it but why not show some consideration and keep your families small?
I agree with you Lucas! In the old days people used to have as many children as they could fully expecting most of them to die very young but the few who lived would be enough to take care of the land once the parents could not (terribly enough, that is still true for some countries with very low quality of living). The world has changed though and our perception of families and children should change accordingly.
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It's also ok to think stretched out baggy skin flaps are not beautiful looking. Not everything about women's bodies needs to be beautiful. Can't we just exist without being held to beauty standards?
Body positivity? Yes, please. Objectification of female bodies as mothers of all things? Hell, no! Please reframe this to convey that the human body is what it is (aesthetically (un)appealing) without contributing to the harmful discourse of female bodies being acceptably different from conventional concepts of beauty only when/after having given birth. It is unquestionably a good thing, when a person is at peace with his*her body, but this should not be a matter of having given life. Ever. Please re-think this line of framing, Bored Panda. Thank you.
F*****g THANK YOU. I'm childfree and my 46-year-old body is slowly morphing into a dumpster fire. I feel great about it anyway; it's strong and healthy. I want to be beautiful too, even though I didn't birth FIVE (barf) kids.
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The stretch marks, loose skin etc.... Those are all what I call "Love Marks" not stretch marks. Because of her love, those makes came about and every time she looks at them, it will remind her of her littles. Even when they are grown and gone. So, I have them from having 4 boys and I wouldn't change it for anything. People won't know this feeling until they have kids and also have this kind of thinking.
I'm not sure why people get so upset about posts like this. I don't have kids so it's not something I can relate to but I certainly don't get upset about it. Some where there is a woman who has had a baby recently and is feeling pretty down on herself and this post might have helped and that's what matters.
The body-positive message is great. But the self-depracating comments underneath make me sad. Such as "When the tummy goes it ruins your life" ... What a shame it is that society puts so much emphasis on looks, people end up feeling like their tummy ruins their lives. Their tummy! There are people with no limbs who live and accomplish amazing feats - and we're here, defining ourselves by the shape of our stomach. And that's exactly why it's so important to tell people that it's okay to make peace with your body... It's difficult to do, but it's okay.
I had twins that were four days overdue... I used to have hr glass shape like my sides came in but after the boys my stomach never reattached and now have a more squared shape it's bizarre but it happens... My husband doesn't care and not only shows me but truly makes me feel that I'm the only women who exists. Honestly I had a very hard time looking into mirror, or not feeling bad when I showered.. over time he reassured me none of it mattered.. I let it go
I felt ruined from the first time I had my first baby at 18, my stomach was literally destroyed. Nobody tells you it will look like this and the added fact of the lucky ones who don't get stretch marks hurts like hell. I'm 53 and finally they don't bother me anymore but it's taken until I was in my 40's. I admire this beautiful woman.
I used to be into body building when I was younger, and I wound up with stretch marks along my shoulder/arm skin. An article in Muscle & Fitness explained the cause being a lack of 'Zinc' in one's diet. If you take a good vitamin, high in Zinc, this will not occur in the future. Zinc promotes skin elasticity. I've mentioned this to several first time expectant mothers, and not one of them had stretch marks on their stomach, or breasts. https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=zinc+deficiency+and+stretch+marks&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Just keep the dose under 40mg and be aware of potential side effects. In some people, zinc might cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, metallic taste, kidney and stomach damage, and other side effects so routine zinc supplementation is not recommended without the advice of a healthcare professional.
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Nobody *expects* a mother of five to have a beautiful belly. But it is absurd to argue that her belly looks beautiful. Either we are not supposed to judge women by their looks, or we are supposed to judge them all beautiful - which *is* judging them by their looks. You can't have it both ways.
It’s beautiful to her children. I loved my mom’s soft tummy when I was little. Still do.
Load More Replies...
That's exactly the sort of comment that women who do "look like that" don't want to hear you ignorant fool! Go away.
Load More Replies...
This will no doubt be an unpopular view but I also don't think large families should be promoted. Houses are being built at an alarming rate on green belt land in my country due to housing shortages. Floods are occuring not simply because of large amounts of rain but because housing is preventing the land from draining. The planet doesn't need ever increasing numbers of humans causing more and more harm. So, shoot me down, I'm expecting it but why not show some consideration and keep your families small?
I agree with you Lucas! In the old days people used to have as many children as they could fully expecting most of them to die very young but the few who lived would be enough to take care of the land once the parents could not (terribly enough, that is still true for some countries with very low quality of living). The world has changed though and our perception of families and children should change accordingly.
Load More Replies... It's also ok to think stretched out baggy skin flaps are not beautiful looking. Not everything about women's bodies needs to be beautiful. Can't we just exist without being held to beauty standards?
Body positivity? Yes, please. Objectification of female bodies as mothers of all things? Hell, no! Please reframe this to convey that the human body is what it is (aesthetically (un)appealing) without contributing to the harmful discourse of female bodies being acceptably different from conventional concepts of beauty only when/after having given birth. It is unquestionably a good thing, when a person is at peace with his*her body, but this should not be a matter of having given life. Ever. Please re-think this line of framing, Bored Panda. Thank you.
F*****g THANK YOU. I'm childfree and my 46-year-old body is slowly morphing into a dumpster fire. I feel great about it anyway; it's strong and healthy. I want to be beautiful too, even though I didn't birth FIVE (barf) kids.
Load More Replies... The stretch marks, loose skin etc.... Those are all what I call "Love Marks" not stretch marks. Because of her love, those makes came about and every time she looks at them, it will remind her of her littles. Even when they are grown and gone. So, I have them from having 4 boys and I wouldn't change it for anything. People won't know this feeling until they have kids and also have this kind of thinking.
I'm not sure why people get so upset about posts like this. I don't have kids so it's not something I can relate to but I certainly don't get upset about it. Some where there is a woman who has had a baby recently and is feeling pretty down on herself and this post might have helped and that's what matters.
The body-positive message is great. But the self-depracating comments underneath make me sad. Such as "When the tummy goes it ruins your life" ... What a shame it is that society puts so much emphasis on looks, people end up feeling like their tummy ruins their lives. Their tummy! There are people with no limbs who live and accomplish amazing feats - and we're here, defining ourselves by the shape of our stomach. And that's exactly why it's so important to tell people that it's okay to make peace with your body... It's difficult to do, but it's okay.
I had twins that were four days overdue... I used to have hr glass shape like my sides came in but after the boys my stomach never reattached and now have a more squared shape it's bizarre but it happens... My husband doesn't care and not only shows me but truly makes me feel that I'm the only women who exists. Honestly I had a very hard time looking into mirror, or not feeling bad when I showered.. over time he reassured me none of it mattered.. I let it go
I felt ruined from the first time I had my first baby at 18, my stomach was literally destroyed. Nobody tells you it will look like this and the added fact of the lucky ones who don't get stretch marks hurts like hell. I'm 53 and finally they don't bother me anymore but it's taken until I was in my 40's. I admire this beautiful woman.
I used to be into body building when I was younger, and I wound up with stretch marks along my shoulder/arm skin. An article in Muscle & Fitness explained the cause being a lack of 'Zinc' in one's diet. If you take a good vitamin, high in Zinc, this will not occur in the future. Zinc promotes skin elasticity. I've mentioned this to several first time expectant mothers, and not one of them had stretch marks on their stomach, or breasts. https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=zinc+deficiency+and+stretch+marks&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Just keep the dose under 40mg and be aware of potential side effects. In some people, zinc might cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, metallic taste, kidney and stomach damage, and other side effects so routine zinc supplementation is not recommended without the advice of a healthcare professional.
Load More Replies... Nobody *expects* a mother of five to have a beautiful belly. But it is absurd to argue that her belly looks beautiful. Either we are not supposed to judge women by their looks, or we are supposed to judge them all beautiful - which *is* judging them by their looks. You can't have it both ways.
It’s beautiful to her children. I loved my mom’s soft tummy when I was little. Still do.
Load More Replies... That's exactly the sort of comment that women who do "look like that" don't want to hear you ignorant fool! Go away.
Load More Replies...
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