It seems like whenever a celebrity has a baby, everyone becomes fixated on how quickly she "bounces back" after the pregnancy. Thankfully, Blake Lively is having none of it.
Lively sat down for a video interview with Sunrise earlier this week to promote her film The Shallows, which is now being released in Australia, and she promptly shut down the idea that a woman has to "bounce back" and strive for a perfect "post-baby body."
The segment started off awkwardly enough when the enthusiastic interviewer introduced Lively as someone who “is so well-known for being Mrs. Ryan Reynolds.” Sure, Lively and Reynolds make an adorable couple, but come on: When will mainstream media realize women are more than whom they've married? After all, Blake was already (and remains) successful on her own, way before she was "Mrs. Reynolds."
When asked about her fitness regime, Lively shared that she had to do a lot of endurance training eight months after having her baby in order to prepare for the film. The interviewer then points out that doing a film like The Shallows is a great way to get a hot post-baby body.
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"It's so unfair, it's so celebrated: 'This is what someone looks like after having a baby,'" Lively responded. "And I think a woman's body after having a baby is pretty amazing."
“You don’t have to have be Victoria’s Secret–ready right away," she added. "You’ve just done this incredible miracle that life has to offer.”
Her comments are a reminder of the pressure women face to be "in shape" before, during, and after pregnancy. Celebrity women are, of course, closely scrutinized when they make their first post-baby public appearance, and they're celebrated if they've achieved what is deemed an "ideal body."
Instead, Lively said during her interview, “You gave birth to a human being. I would really like to see that celebrated.”