Hi, everyone! As of 3/15/24, this community is still very new so some things may be changed around in the coming weeks. I figured I would start by outlining the intention of this subreddit. This will be a long post!
This community was inspired by @smallbooblove. I decided not to call this “bigbellylove” as I want everyone to feel comfortable sharing, without worrying about what qualifies as “big” or not. This is a supportive community for any women or enbys who feel that their stomachs are unconventionally beautiful.
For centuries, sculptors and painters depicted beautiful women with full curvy bellies, yet since around the 1950s, we’ve been inundated with the opposite messaging. We’ve been encouraged to wear spanx under formalwear or to “tone up” our stomachs before beach season. And I’m sure we’ve all seen tabloids by the checkout line with paparazzi pictures of celebrities at the beach, shaming them for their midriff. Even Princess Diana was shamed (by her own husband) for her stomach!
Somehow a feature that was once praised as beautiful and feminine has now been lowered to demeaning phrases like “FUPA” “pooch” or “pudge.” These phrases were intentionally created to make us feel lesser than. Would you call a woman’s other curves “pudges”? No, of course not.
In this community, we believe that having a curvy stomach is healthy and natural at any weight or fitness level. It’s as healthy and natural as any other curve. Building abdominal strength is healthy and important, but the fitness industry often takes a solely aesthetic approach to promoting abdominal fitness.
Having abdominal strength doesn’t equal a flat stomach and having a flat stomach doesn’t equal having abdominal strength. Belly dancers, for example, exercise an extreme level of control over their abdominal muscles, yet are often known for their curvy bellies. I would encourage doubters to consider that beauty standards change over time and fitness influencers are often biased towards current trends. From the 50s-2000s, fitness coaches promoted the idea that having a large ass was unhealthy, and now they promote glute exercises to build a larger butt. When exercising, I encourage you to consider your health itself and not an aesthetic ideal.
I’ll be starting us off with some posts, but I encourage you to post anything that you feel uplifts women/enbys. People of any weight, height, or body type are welcome.
In a more poetic sense, this is a community for women who spent prom night sucking themselves into their mom’s waist cincher. For women who would’ve loved ballet if their teacher didn’t hate their stomach, who would’ve felt the waves lapping on their waist if they chose the bikini over the one piece, who could diet and diet and diet till they’re underweight and still curvy. This is a community for women who see themselves in a statue of Aphrodite, yet still fear low rise jeans. Stop holding your breath in to please other people. Relax and enjoy life—you’re beautiful!!!
