4th Trimester Bodies Project Fights 'Unrealistic Expectations' For New Moms (PHOTOS)

[ismnotwasm]

As a pinup and boudoir photographer, Ashlee Wells Jackson is used to taking intimate shots of her subjects. But her "4th Trimester Bodies Project" -- a photo series that embraces the changes brought to women’s bodies by motherhood -- is revealing in a very different sense.

By showcasing moms, Jackson hopes to shine a light on cultural interpretations of female beauty and change women's expectations for themselves and those around them.

"[T]his project has been something that has felt a necessity in my mind for years now," she told HuffPost by email, adding that the impetus for the series was deeply personal. "After coming out the other side of a very traumatic pregnancy and birth experience myself and struggling with the strangeness of my new body, I felt like it was finally time to make this project a reality."

Jackson explained:

I see beautiful, inspiring, real women on a daily basis who struggle with their body image because they don’t feel they measure up with who the media tells them to be. I feel like this is even more poignant in mothers who often feel like their bodies have been ruined when they should instead be respected for creating, sustaining and nourishing life. So much more needs to be done in our society to embrace body positivity and normalize breastfeeding. ... So, I started with my story and it has exploded into a beautiful thing from there.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/16/4th-trimester-bodies-project-ashlee-wells-jackson_n_3757793.html

[Control-Z]

1. Omg. Amazing!

Thank you, ismnotwasm, for this!! Beautiful and so real!

[ismnotwasm]

2. I thought they were cool

Glad you liked them!

[Deep13]

3. This would be encouraging if it were not for the fact...

...that advertisers will bury it in hundreds of millions of dollars in media.

[ismnotwasm]

4. There is that

But these efforts are encouraging I think.

[redqueen]

5. This is really good.

I've heard from L&D/NICU nurses about dads in the delivery rooms bragging about how little weight their wives/partners gained during their pregnancy. So proud of their wives for barely gaining anything during pregnancy. Nice priorities, dad!