It appears to be the week of eye-roll worthy takes on women’s weight. After *that* ludicrous headline about ‘mixed-weight’ couples on screen went viral, another celebrity is now facing similar weight-shaming after opening up about… wait for it… her postpartum body. Yes, the ever-beautiful literal MODEL Suki Waterhouse appears on the front cover of British Vogue this week and while she, in the interview, gave a refreshing opinion on how her body has changed since giving birth to her daughter in April, tabloids have run with headlines about how much weight she’s gained.
'I definitely think, "Oh, I’m shooting the cover of Vogue and I’m 25 pounds heavier than I normally am right now", but it’s also like, "Who gives a f***?"’ Suki said. ‘It is what it is and also, the boobs are fun.’
Honestly, it’s heartening to see a celebrity refusing to care about the ludicrous pressures placed on women to be a certain size, particularly after childbirth when you’re fed endless narratives about women who ‘snapped back’ into their old bodies. At a time when weight loss injections are putting women in hospital, clothing brands are reverting back to the days when they only stock up to a size 14 and ‘thinspo’ appears to be returning with a vengeance on social media, we really need celebrities like Suki who have the power to influence the minds of young girls and women.
Of course, the tabloid reaction is disappointing. For a woman to literally tell you she does not give ‘a f*ck’ about her postpartum body, and to run with headlines about how much weight she’s gained as though it’s the most interesting thing about her, it completely counteracts the positive impact she’s having.
It’s not the first time Suki has spoken up for women when it comes to not succumbing to unrealistic standards around weight. Last year, she told ELLE UK that as a young model she faced a ton of pressure to lose weight, but she refused to concede.
‘[I remember] an initial pressure to change myself a lot,’ she said. ‘If you were different then you’d be sat down and told that you weren’t going to do shows. I didn’t really believe: “This is the truth; I need to look like this to work”. I didn’t believe I had to be half my body weight to succeed.’
Instead, Suki chose to lead with bravado and style to ‘distract people’ from her body ‘in its pure form.’ Honestly, reading those words alone is quite unsettling given she’s always been visibly thin, but it ultimately goes to prove how ludicrous our standards still are around weight despite so much body positive activism that’s been done to move away from the days of the ultra-thin 90s supermodel.
Frankly, we’re grateful for celebrities like Suki who continue to call out the bullshit around how women’s bodies are ‘meant’ to look, particularly after birth. Keep fighting the fight!