Just 12 days after giving birth to her second son with her fiance, Ariel, South African treasure, Victoria’s Secret model and all-around sunshine person Candice Swanepoel posted a series of Instagram Stories in response to being body shamed online.
Posting an Insta Story of her wearing a ʙικιɴι on the beach soon after giving birth, she wrote, “This is me 12 days after having my son. If you have something bad to say about it… check yourself. Society can be so cruel to one another. Beauty standards are sometimes impossible for women these days. I’m not ashamed to show my post-partum tummy. I am proud actually… I carried my son for 9 months in there. I think I’ve earned the right to have a little tummy.
“Is it because I’m a model? Well we are normal people too, so let me enjoy the beach in peace please.”
She added another image a while later, that was just as powerful. This was read, “I don’t have to hide my stomach just because people have unrealistic standards of women. We create life… what can you do? Ladies are all in this together. Be kind to each other.”
The Insta Story was reposted by many, including a series of South African models and influencers like Ansolet Rossouw and Brandslut in solidarity with Candice.
Thumbs up, hearts, and YAAAAS girl.
Parent24 recently discussed the controversy which surrounded Chrissy Teigen and how she fought back against those mommy-shamers who judged how she held her kids, showed herself breastfeeding her new baba on Instagram, and the list goes on.
In 1997, supermodel Tyra Banks told body shamers to “Kiss my fat ᴀss” on The Tyra Banks Show after being shamed by the tabloids who published paparazzi snaps of her in a one piece at the beach. E! Online reported that the tabloids called her a series of awful names, including “Thigh-ra Banks,”
In 2013, former DA Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko was body shamed online. Vanguard says she responded, saying “I’ve experienced Sєxism of every different kind, from comments about my hair and my clothes to my body, to my age, to my stature… But it’s depressing to be in a parliament that has so many female members willing to condone their male counterparts resorting to Sєxism and ageism and all kinds of other divisive tactics simply to score political points. It’s a real feature of the patriarchal nature of South African society mirrored in our parliamentary debate.”