We don’t usually look to celebrities for honesty. Their entire existence is to create an illusion of unattainability so that we can spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on products to make us look, feel, and live more “fabulously.” So when they take a moment to take the mask off and get real about the emotional difficulties they’ve experienced, it’s not only super refreshing but also really, really helpful — especially when it has to do with postpartum life and the dreaded idea of “snapback culture.”
Snapback culture, to put it simply, is fucking stupid. It’s the idea that people who have just dispelled an entire human through their vaginal cave (after carrying them in their bodies for almost 10 months, mind you) should for some reason prioritize losing weight, or “snapping back,” to their pre-pregnancy bodies. It’s the thought that despite having their entire bodily chemistries altered forever, and now having to put that aside as they raise a literal person from scratch, they should aim for a body that bears no sign that they had ever given birth. If you haven’t noticed, snapback culture is pretty dumb and misogynistic — and some of your favorite celebrities have publicly felt the same way.
Here are some of your favorite celebrities who have spoken out about snapback culture.
Jessie J.
On an Instagram story back in August of 2023, Jessie J. wrote, “Couple of people have said to me, ‘I bet you can’t wait to get your body back.’ My reply is… ‘I don’t want to go back. That body is gone. I want my body to go forward. I’m getting my body forward.’ That’s the vibe, ladies. Embrace that bowdddddy!”
Halsey
After a stint on SNL, Halsey posted a gallery of some of her postpartum belly pics. In the caption she wrote, “A lot of people don’t know that you still look pregnant for a while after. It is still changing and I am letting it. I have no interest in working out right now. I’m too tired and too busy playing with my darling son. With that being said, the body behind all those compliments the other night was wearing a custom tailored outfit and lighted perfectly after much testing, so I could feel good and do my job. I do not want to feed the illusion that you’re meant to feel and look “great” immediately postpartum. That is not my narrative currently. If you’ve been following me because you’re also a parent and you dig what I’m doing, please know I’m in your corner. I will never have my “pre-baby body back” no matter how it changes physically because I have now had a baby! And that has altered me forever; emotionally, spiritually, and physically. That change is permanent. And I don’t want to go back!”
Tia Mowry
In another postpartum Instagram post, Tia Mowry wrote, “Pregnancy was such a special time in my life and I loved it and my bump! I also loved my body before pregnancy. We’re led to believe we should love one over the other. But it was important for me to be super proud of BOTH bodies instead of feeling pressured to be a part of the snapback culture. I think instead we can look at our bodies and love and acknowledge them for keeping us alive and keeping our babies alive! Mamas, we can allow our bodies to just BE while we nourish them (and our little ones!) with good things, instead of buying into the snapback culture.”
Ashley Graham
“I felt like I have such a big following and I have shared so much up until this part of my life that I needed to share this as well, to normalize so much that happens to our bodies . . . and how things just sometimes don’t go back to normal,” Ashley Graham said in an interview with POPSUGAR. “ Like, I’m not trying to go back to something. I had to have that talk with myself a few times, but I think as long as you have the tools and you know that it’s in you, it can happen. It can be a tough road watching your body change. At least for me, it was a tough road watching my body change so drastically with all these pregnancies back to back. And, you know, just throwing in a twin pregnancy and seeing your stomach get stretched out.”
Keke Palmer
“Do what you can when you can, whatever it is that makes you feel good,” Keke Palmer told PEOPLE. “If it’s important to you, then hell yeah put in the work miss girl. Get you whatever diet you want to do or whatever workout regimen that works for you. And if that’s not what you’re worried about, then don’t worry about it. Anytime you see a celebrity doing a snap back or whatever like that, it’s part of the damn gig. A part of our jobs is to look good and to look the part. So don’t think it’s this thing where it’s like, ‘We doing it because we got it like that.’ No, the job is on the line. If we want the checks to get signed, we got to be what we got to be.”
Porsha Williams
“Moms are badass, don’t let anyone tell you different,” Porsha wrote in an Instagram post. “I think social media has altered people’s perception of what moms look like. A lot of moms tell me how they get underhanded compliments or jokes about their weight and it really affects them in a negative way. I just feel like we should be able to bask in motherhood and let our bodies naturally heal and evolve. Like for me I had Pj 4 months ago and I just don’t feel ready to workout. The snapback culture has put pressure on most moms so they end up feeling insecure about what their body is naturally doing and looks like. Ion know call me weird but I actually adore my lil marks and feel like it’s a lil badge of honor as all moms should.”
