This Woman Just Compared 2 39-Week Pregnancies to Prove Every Body Is So Different

By Alessia Santoro

Published on 7/6/2016 at 11:29 AM

in this image these two women are at about the same stage in their pregnancies - 39 weeks. that is the gorgeous @tessholliday looking boss on the left and me with the defined abs on the right. she is a voluptuous model and I am a sinewy mountain athlete. both of us are shamed for our size - she for her roundness and me for my smallness. both of us are having or had healthy pregnancies as validated by our healthcare providers. both of us are making empowered choices about our personal health. ✨why does our society shame women whose bodies do not adhere to some narrow notion of false normalcy? ✨ let's instead keep our thoughts and words about other people's size to ourselves. pregnancy is tough enough without also being body shamed. #effyourbeautystandards #momshame

A photo posted by Brittany Aäe (@__magneticnorth__) on

No two bodies are identical, yet women are endlessly shamed for not fitting into a limited perception of what the "perfect" body apparently is. Brittany Aäe, a "sinewy mountain athlete," posted a side-by-side comparison of herself and plus-size model Tess Holliday each at 39 weeks pregnant to prove that no two baby bumps are exactly the same — and that's totally OK.

In the post to Instagram, Aäe commented: "Both of us are shamed for our size — she for her roundness and me for my smallness. Both of us are having or had healthy pregnancies as validated by our healthcare providers. Both of us are making empowered choices about our personal health. Why does our society shame women whose bodies do not adhere to some narrow notion of false normalcy?"

Aäe ends her post with a plea to others to keep thoughts about other people's size to themselves as pregnancy is already tough enough without also dealing with body shaming.