While there is enormous pressure on celebrity moms to “return” to their sexy, pre-baby state -- even if a surgeon’s knife is required -- it’s kind of masochistically unrealistic for us to compare our bodies to theirs. Honestly, I don’t live Jennifer Lopez’s kind life but when I see images and videos of her, a woman who’s my age and who also has twins, I admit that it doesn’t make me feel so great, particularly when she flashes her taut abs on the beach. Even if I went bananas with crunches and diets, my stretch marks and loose skin would remain, unless I had surgery, which doesn’t interest me.

The question that Lazarus’ short video asks is why would women consider surgery to eliminate the physical reminders that our bodies once housed and nurtured children? Is it because we don’t see other women who have stomachs like ours? Because we’ve been trained by society and the media to feel badly about what happens to our bodies after childbirth?

The answers to those questions are definitely as provocative as the questions themselves.

Originally posted on ModernMom