Stop commenting on parents’ bodies – especially new mums

It’s 2025, and somehow, we’re still fixated on post-baby bodies – especially those of celebrities.

By Charis Torrance

Whether it’s a tabloid headline celebrating a rapid “snapback” or a Twitter thread dissecting why someone hasn’t “bounced back” yet, society seems to believe that a new parent’s body is up for public discussion. And it needs to stop.

Take Rihanna, for example. After having her second child, the internet was flooded with opinions about her body – some praising her for not conforming to the expected postpartum slim-down, others criticising her curves. Then there’s Ashley Graham, who has been open about embracing her post-baby body, yet still finds herself on the receiving end of unsolicited commentary. Even Blake Lively, who has typically kept her personal life private, had to shut down speculation about her post-baby weight with a pointed Instagram post.

So why do we find it so easy to comment on celebrities’ bodies? Some theories suggest it’s because we see them as public property – social media has blurred the line between admiration and entitlement. There’s also a deeply ingrained cultural obsession with female bodies and control over them, particularly around motherhood. The idea that a woman should “get her body back” after pregnancy implies that it was ever lost to begin with – as if the natural process of growing a human is something to “recover” from aesthetically rather than just… exist through.

As a society, we need to do better. That means shifting the conversation from how a parent looks after childbirth to how they feel. It means celebrating rest, healing, and self-compassion over unrealistic expectations. And it means challenging our own biases – because if we wouldn’t say it to a friend, we shouldn’t be saying it about a celebrity online.

Bodies change. Priorities shift. And most importantly, new parents have far more important things to focus on than whether they meet some outdated beauty standard. Let’s give them the grace and respect they deserve.