Anyone Else Object to the Oh-so-perfect-body on the Homepage?

I like how a week or so ago, Jessica Simpson was on the homepage with 'mothering' advice????
Really???? She hadn't even given birth yet.

What's worse, is when the men believe it too and then compare their wives or partner, to that and then, expect, it.

Yah, right.

The ol' Super Mom ideal, which makes people crazy trying to attain.

I think I found a problem with her body. It looks like she has an outy belly button. whew!!!relieved

Hey now R.-

Please don't 'mock' my body!

I am, in fact, 'that' model...

A single mom has got to do what she has to do to make ends meet.

****And there is this bridge in Brooklyn that I have to sell.........*****

Best Luck!
michele/cat

I'm definitely there with you! I thought the exact same thing when I saw it too.

I'm a regular Mom damn it, who earned her tiger stripes! :)

I figure it is either a computer humanization of a Barbie doll or she is five ft tall. If my waist was that small my family would be organizing an intervention.

I did make it through one kid with no stretch marks, three more later....

I don't think it upsets me so much it makes me not want to read the article. I mean if that is their idea of a mom what can possibly be their solution that what ever problem they speak of?

Ya know what the first thing that struck me, I hate everything that does that heart thing with their hands. Yes! That is right, I ignored the body and got upset about the stupid hands!

Want to see an actual picture of the blog's author?

http://www.redheadreverie.blogspot.com/p/about.html

The author is gorgeous, no? She actually looks like her voice sounds: Strong, worn, contented. She's certainly NOT the same person as the stomach model.

Look folks, the woman who wrote the blog shares her story about making peace with her body. Her 40 year old, child baring, eating disorder surviving, triathlon competing body. Now THAT is a work of art. Women sharing their story of empowerment? I'm in.

The stomach-heart-hand photo (lovely body, but LOL Jo, I'm w/ you on the hands ;-) just doesn't FIT with the article. Want to sell me a yoga rug? Sure, use the headless stomach and hand shutterstock provided photo. By all means.

Want to sell me an article/forum about a woman's journey to find self acceptance? Show me the REAL woman. Show me someone who I can relate to. Show me the myriad ways beauty can look. Aging bodies are beautiful. They have Life's writings all over them. Firm bodies are beautiful too. Beauty can look so many different ways.

For the record I have a slammin' body. And you know what? It took having a baby to realize it.

My best to you R.. Keep on calling 'em as you see 'em. Hugs to you and your son. I hope you and he are safe. Your courage awes me.

Had to find the photo....yeah. Is that a waist line, or a .....whatever else is so thin you can barely see it. Kinda doesn't go with the article in which the author learned to not crave impossible physical standards. Unfortunately, people love to look at beauty, and the stereotypes for beauty in advertising (Disney Princess waistlines) tend to stand immovable through the ages. I'm surprised fashion doesn't just go back to corsets or chain smoking so we could have an easier time living up to those images. I just saw an old movie last night where Every female had a microscopic waistline and torpedo boobs. Made me feel oh so slouchy.

I think it's a lack of imagination-- and a reliance on stock photos.

I'm still waiting for the Mamapedia techs to 'imagine up' an effective search function. Not that I don't mind seeing twenty-hundred questions on potty training (I like to help!), but I think it would benefit users/advice seekers to get a wider spectrum of advice than just who was online that day.

And yes, the photos do make me cranky, esp. the ones that have no connection to reality...because in real life, I don't stand around naked making heart shapes with my hands. How about a fully-clothed average looking woman in yoga pants and a hoodie, out for a good walk? Pushing her walking/jogging stroller. Being healthy is what's important....

You know what? And I'm sure I'll get ripped for saying this...

If I'm going to be looking at a body, I don't want to look at a flabby, stretch marked, scarred up , dimpled, rolled, body. Why? I don't really find it pleasant. (As far as advertising goes.) Call me stereotypical, call me mean, call me whatever. If I have an ad in front of my eyes, they might as well make it pretty. I didn't know that putting attractive people in an ad, meant I'm supposed to want to look perfect. If I look at an ad of a CLEARLY Photoshopped, genetic gene pool winner model...and feel less about myself, because I'm not the .000001% of the perfect. model beautiful population...I think the problem is me being weak and influenced by something that has nothing to do with me, or reality. To be frank.

Also, read the dang article.

ETA: To be clear, my entire answer was referring to "you" in the general sense, and encouraging everyone to read the article. This was in no way pointed at you personally R. ;)

I agree. It doesn't matter what the article is actually about - the picture turns me off, so therefore I won't read it. On a website for moms - that pic is a slap in the face. And I have, what would be considered a good body! I'm 5'3", 114lbs. and a size 2. But I still have a flabby tummy that has rolls and wiggly arms & thighs. That pic is of someone that is still in their teens or early 20's and has obviously had no children. No, I don't want to see scars and big rolls. BUT, I do want to see a 'real' woman's body if someone is trying to convince me to accept my own.

I'm a bit worn out to day and had to admit when the homepage flashed up and i saw that picture i saw the hands first,---I've seen this tons on pinterest and it is usually a maternity shot and just darling-- But i had to really study this photo to realize this was supposed to be a womans's torso?waist?abdomen? Body.

It wasn't even realistic to me, not human looking. 1 dimensional

I think the older marilyn monroe pin up, with curves is sooo much sexier than Kate moss or whomever is the more current anorexic of the day.

I didn't read the article but the photo turned me off.

I am not that size. However, I would not care to see a view of my bare stomach or one that looks at all like me. I would have alot more objection to a flabby stomach full of stretch marks! I did find it ironic that they used a perfect body for a story about body image!

would you like me to email you a picture of my belly; 4 kids, approaching 40, stomach surgery, cysts a bit too large, bloated.......

Pfft. That thing's so photoshopped.

I thought the same thing.

And I *did* read the article :-)

I see it as a serious disconnect between what the author has to say, and the message that so many of us hear when we see pictures of "perfect" bodies.

HAHAHAHA!

I'm SO serious right now, just about 15 min. ago when i got to the Mamapedia home page, that picture came on and my husband was nearby and said: "WHY did they have that on there? No Moms look like that!" (He meant that in a good way, trust me)

HAHAHAHA!

And I just told him about this post. He thinks it is incredibly funny:)

I DID say, in defense of the picture that: "Who said that was a mom?" and "Some moms MAY look like that..." I really honestly pictured in my head some person who has enough money to get a tummy tuck, though. LOL).

This is just too funny, though!

I had four kids... My used-to-be-super-perfect-tummy-without-even-trying does NOT look awesome anymore! But, I'm really not bitter about those that can somehow *magically* still have a great tummy after kids.

Nah .. I'm ok with me so I'm ok with that too :) I have one friend who after 4 kids STILL didn't have a single stretch mark and was thin. She had great genetics ... but she also was very active.

A friend of my sister's had 5 kids ... 2 sets of twins even ... and was still trim and tiny with very few stretch marks. Again she had great genetics but again stayed active before and during all her pregnancies as well as eating a healthy well balanced diet.

Me ... I have a few stretch marks that you haven't been able to see since my youngest was about a year old. Do I have a flat belly? that would be a big no ... but I also have poor eating habits, a super slow metabolism and am not very active. Although now that we have a dog I've been walking daily so I guess that's good :)

Thing is ... I love who I am and I'm comfortable in my own skin :) So other people's skin doesn't bother me.

I read the article and it made me really hate the picture. I almost want to write an email to MMP. They're trying to promote body love and better body image. The article itself talks about not using the word "skinny" and "fat" and then you use a picture like that.... I know it's not a big deal but it bothers me a lot.

ETA: I also want to say that, I look a little bit like the model. Probably not THAT thin, but I do weight lift 3 times a week, cardio, and I can't eat a large amount becase of stomach problems. I'm also not even 5 foot tall. So even though I could probably sub in for that model (minus the perfect skin...) I do not think it's right. I don't think my body is any more natural than someone elses because of weight, flab, muscle tone, scars, anything... Whatever you got is natural. But she looks really photoshopped. My stomach does NOT go in that much compared to my hip width.

I honestly didnt think twice about it, just hmm i want to look like that but I dont think anything else about it.

Sorry your having a rough patch R..

Honestly, I did not notice the gal's figure until you pointed it out. I did love the hands shaped into a heart and actually spent a lot of time thinking about the message of it...self-love perhaps? Then I thought wouldn't it be a cool family photo of hands, mom with dad, siblings with siblings hands lined up like that all into hearts? And then I thought it would very cool to match up one white with one black hand in a B&W photo...

And I'm super sorry to hear about a bitter custody dispute....please hang in there and ask for help.

OK, you're right....I went back and looked specifically at the figure and the gal looks way too thin. Yuck.

If you want to read a brutal article on body image, then you should read this:
http://dagnyroth.hubpages.com/hub/Attention-All-Skinny-Gi...

The picture doesn't offend me, but I do tire of the overexciting of even the most 'perfect' of celebrity bodies.

Self esteem, aisle 11.

(psst - check out the article under that belly button!) :)

Yes!!!! I thought the same thing a couple of days ago, thought of posting about it and then decided to let it go....Actually the body looked somewhat childish to me in that is was very thin with very little curving but the hands were obviously adult...I didn't even want to read the article but the blurb I saw seemed to be about a mom getting her body back so maybe the image fit?

I agree with you to a certain extent about women's bodies and what real woman look like v. airbrushed, botoxed, lifted, waxed women in the media. Let's not even go into how men are allowed to age, but women can't have gray hair or wrinkles.

BUT

Why don't you read the article that accompanies the picture and then tell us what you think.

I didn't even notice the picture. I don't often read those articles. I'm sorry you're having a bad few days!

We hear you! Are you talking about the mom wearing the white with the two kids on Facebook, or does this picture appear somewhere else?

We will start looking into having real Mamapedia moms submit pictures with their kids, rather than using the canned, staged ones.

If you want someone with c-section scars, thunder thighs, and love handles, we could always use my picture LOL!