Entertainment

Tess Holliday's Breastfeeding Instagram Makes An Important Statement About Motherhood

by Becky Bracken

Tess Holliday has never shied away from letting fans into her world take a peek at what it's like to be a successful model, mother of two and all-around cool chick. In addition to taking on body shamers with zero apologies, it looks like the plus-sized mom is taking on breastfeeding shamers with the same signature no-nonsense attitude. Tess Holliday's breastfeeding Instagram from early Tuesday is crazy beautiful, and it's just the first of what her fans can probably assume will be many images she'll be sharing to join in on the movement to normalize breastfeeding once and for all.

Holliday gave birth just over a week ago to a baby boy, Bowie Juniper, adding another boy to her brood, which currently includes 10-year-old son Rylee, who she had in a previous relationship, and her fiancé and the Bowie's father, Nick Holliday, People Magazine reported. She woke up on Monday like the rest of us, a little tired but mostly grateful, and decided to share a moment of her own motherhood journey with her Instagram followers. She captioned the photo with:

Mondays are a dread by all, sometimes even the self-employed like myself. How I find that the day's [sic] blur together of breastfeeding, sleeping when I can, tears of happiness (& sometimes fear) & no longer having a case of 'The Mondays'... Because everyday is a new adventure when you see it through your little one's eyes. #motherhoodrising #normalizebreastfeeding.

And here's the beautiful image. Not only does Holliday call for normalizing breastfeeding, but the fact that she points out that motherhood isn't all smiles and giggles is important. Motherhood is difficult, and there will be tears along with the happiness.

(Those glitter nails, though.)

And just in case you're not already familiar with the gorgeous Holliday's modeling career, here's a quick clip of her working the camera for a People Magazine cover she graced last year right along side the likes of even Jennifer Lopez.

She shared plenty of cute pictures of her pregnancy, including this one of her pregnancy bump in a bikini, just a few weeks ago after similar images of her were reportedly censored by Facebook for not complying with the social networking site's "health and fitness policy."

And although Facebook eventually backed down, Holliday isn't about to give up one inch of her pride in her body, regardless of what anyone tells her. And I can't think of a more empowering or important message for new, breastfeeding moms to hear. It's also especially powerful coming from a body-positive trailblazer like Holliday. She captioned the above image:

What I've had to learn to be okay with (WHICH IS NOT COOL) is the fact that people still think it's okay to comment on my body, 'You don't look pregnant,' 'you are putting your baby at risk' & a slew of other uneducated statements that are very far from my reality."

Moms face all sorts of unnecessary judgement and stigma just to feed their babies. New mothers are told to cover up for being too sexy and provocative while using their breasts for a purpose other than sex appeal, so they're often banished to public restrooms to feed their babies or pump. The current state of affairs for breastfeeding women is only slightly better than reprehensible and it's going to take more moms like the outspoken Holliday to show the world what an actual breastfeeding mother looks and acts like.