Women. We are fascinating creatures. We are mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, friends, employees, politicians, etc. There are so many labels that a woman can have in our modern world. But most importantly, we are individuals. We are all smart and beautiful and creative in all our own individual ways. Now, there is an Instagram page dedicated to the everyday woman. It is called womenirl, and it is dedicated to uplifting women everywhere by sharing our raw, everyday moments.
[post_page_title]Helping Hands[/post_page_title]
One woman, Natasha Crittenden Wilson wrote on her Facebook, "I was in the waiting room at the doc office today and this lady walked in with her sleeping baby! They handed her paperwork to do & as she was sitting there trying to figure out how to hold her sleeping baby while filling out the paperwork, this man, from across the room, ask's [sic] her if she would like for him to hold her baby while she did her paperwork!! She smiled and said that would be wonderful!! This man went over there and rocked and loved on that baby like he was his!!"
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[post_page_title]Moms Helping Moms[/post_page_title]
All moms are well aware of the challenges of having kids. So when one woman, Rebecca Patterson, was struggling in the grocery store to do her shopping as well as manage her 2-year-old child, another shopper Tiffany jumped to help.
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[post_page_title]Shout Out to Women Trying[/post_page_title]
It is no secret that women are held to impossibly high beauty standards these days. Especially, after having given birth, some people expect women to bounce back to their pre-pregnancy bodies like it was nothing. But our bodies are never the same and that's ok. We just created a life.
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[post_page_title]Double the Trouble[/post_page_title]
As user @amy_exercisingbalance captioned this photo, "My hubby snapped this pic as I fell asleep sitting up, breastfeeding our 2 week old twins. Exhausted doesn’t fully describe this experience as I was healing from 2 types of births (Baby A vaginal, Baby B cesarean) and my body is working non-freaking-stop to make all the milk for these boys."
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[post_page_title]Covering Up[/post_page_title]
As one woman, Carol Lockwood wrote in a post, "A friend’s daughter-in-law was told to 'cover up' while feeding her baby, so she did. I’m SO over people shaming women for nursing." And we agree.
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[post_page_title]Surprise[/post_page_title]
Probably one of the best pictures, this one captures the surprise on a woman's face. She thought she was going to give birth to another daughter, and this is her face when she finds out it was actually a boy.
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[post_page_title]Single and Doesn't Care to Mingle[/post_page_title]
Women are often defined by their age and who they have in their life. When women hit 30, it suddenly becomes this tragic age as it signifies that they're near death's door. And if they're not married and childless, well, that's the tragic cherry on top of a s**t sundae. And sadly, some women buy into it because they have had it so ingrained into their mind by society.
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[post_page_title]Beautiful Bodies[/post_page_title]
This picture gave me chills. The sign that the mom is holding is so true that it hurts. How many times do we pass a magazine stand with all the latest celeb gossip magazines or women's health magazines, and all you read is how to get your body back after pregnancy?
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[post_page_title]Postpartum Tummy[/post_page_title]
Someone had actually said to this mom these exact words: "disgusting, I don’t know what husband would ever want to come home to that." What the actual F***?! Carrying a kid is not easy on the body. Women these days really have to face a lot of unfair pressures to get their bodies back to where they were when they were 20, single, and childless.
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[post_page_title]Cellulite[/post_page_title]
Cellulite isn't just something that appears on unfit people who never exercise and pack on the pounds. It appears on people who go to the gym and keep fit too. Yet somehow, there is such a sense of shame attached to it. This woman posted the picture of herself after she witnessed a man shamed another woman for having cellulite. I mean, can men please stop freaking out over cellulite? Beauty is beauty regardless of a little cellulite.
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[post_page_title]Like Mother, Like Baby[/post_page_title]
Any mom knows that when your baby sleeps, it's probably a good idea to take advantage of that quiet and sleep themselves. My mom definitely was the master of the art of napping when I was a sleeping baby.
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[post_page_title]Multitasking[/post_page_title]
Can moms do it all at once and be super moms? Absolutely. This picture is proof that you can feed your baby and get some much-needed sleep all at once. You go super mom. This picture was quite popular among many other mothers who could relate in many ways. One mom commented, "And this is exactly why we as mothers should never judge other mothers."
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[post_page_title]30 Years on Earth[/post_page_title]
"No babies. No weight fluctuations. Just a girl who’s lived 30 years and got something to show for it," that is how this picture was captioned. While it is wonderful to see so many moms juggling the everyday struggles of the adventure known as motherhood, we also can't forget other women.
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[post_page_title]Mom of Triplets[/post_page_title]
Carrying a baby gets pretty heavy. We hear from moms saying all the time how heavy it get towards the end and how everything swells and gets uncomfortable. Now times that by two when you're a mom carrying triplets. That has got to be the most uncomfortable thing ever.
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Credit: Instagram / womenirl[/caption]
[post_page_title]Working Mom[/post_page_title]
Motherhood in our society is a catch-22. You hear a lot of people criticizing women for not staying home with their kids, or criticizing those that want to stay home with their kids for not being independent enough. It's like they can never win. This mom wrote, "Sometimes I hear the rare negative comment about my decision to go to school instead of being home full time with my kids. It’s hard to not get offended at these comments."
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[post_page_title]Baby Belly[/post_page_title]
This mom knows full well the labors of having kids. She has had five. It never gets easier, and it's always a journey that has its reminders left on the skin. This mom wrote, "Yes, I do I have a valley of lines mapped across my belly, mountains of stretched skin left over my mid section, lightning bolts on my sides and back, all signs that I carried life inside of me.... five times!"
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[post_page_title]Postpartum Letter to Self[/post_page_title]
Besides society telling moms how their bodies should look after giving birth, moms can sometimes be rather hard on themselves regarding their postpartum bodies. Probably because they've internalized all the negativity surrounding women's post-pregnancy bodies all their lives.
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[post_page_title]Body Positivity[/post_page_title]
Blogger Sarah Nicole Landry said in her recent Instagram post, “Stop worrying so much about not looking like you’re a brand new and shiny human. Because you’re not. You’ve lived. Loved. Experienced. Your body in its own way will show itself through those memories. Whether you live it out shabby chic or get refinished, it doesn’t matter. Because ultimately you are something that has grown in worth, not lessened. Not one bit.”
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[post_page_title]Instagram versus Reality[/post_page_title]
Instagram influencer Rini Frey perfectly demonstrates the illusion of the perfect body by letting us see her at all angles, even the unflattering ones. “Most of them don’t represent reality and if they do, it doesn’t mean that these bodies belong to a healthy and happy human,” she wrote. “It’s just what we are made to believe, but it’s mostly not true.”
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[post_page_title]Mom of Two[/post_page_title]
The picture-perfect set of two kids do not exist. Oh, wait, yes, it does. It's basically any mom with her two kids. As one social media user on Instagram commented, "What's super impressive is that you can handle all that and the phone with a smile. Great picture." Another person commented, "Reality can be beautiful." And it is so true.
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[post_page_title]Breast Feeding for the Win[/post_page_title]
I don't have kids myself, but I can only imagine that it must be such a powerful feeling of so many emotions when your baby latches on for the first time, as well as the last time. And that is what this mom captured with her two photos. The first time she breastfed her daughter, as well as the last time that she did. And the emotion is written clearly across her face in both.
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[post_page_title]Postpartum Depression/post_page_title]
Coping with postpartum depression is something that a lot of people forget about as part of the birth process. My mom struggled badly with it in the months after I was born. Mental health, especially after birth, needs more attention drawn to it. As part of her post, this mom wrote, "Mamas out there, let's recognize how to deal with these feelings and know how to treat them. I'm here to tell you, it's not you... It's PPD. Let's talk!”
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[post_page_title]Finding the Courage[/post_page_title]
It takes a lot of courage to fully embrace the body you've been given, especially when it has gone through the changes of pregnancy, and you've been used to hearing the negativity of people believing that a mother needs to bounce back asap after giving birth.
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[post_page_title]One Week Postpartum[/post_page_title]
Ever since 2013 when Kate Middleton bravely showed her postpartum figure to the world only hours after giving birth, more women seem to be embracing their postpartum figure in pictures.
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[post_page_title]C-Section Scars[/post_page_title]
Everyone makes it seem like women need to hide the scars of birth. But there shouldn't be shame in showing off a C-Section scar. All it means is that you've had a baby. This mom was very proud to show off her scar. A commentator had the perfect response to her post saying, "Scars are tattoos with better stories."
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[post_page_title]Breastfeeding on the Runway[/post_page_title]
When a baby is hungry, it's hungry and you have to feed it no matter where you happen to me. This mom happened to do it while strutting down the runway. Talk about a badass mom. We have nothing but respect for this.
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[post_page_title]Bad Mom[/post_page_title]
Everyone has an opinion about how mothers should behave or how they should act when raising children. Motherhood is a discovery that each and every woman who chooses it must discover for herself. This mom was annoyed by everyone having an opinion on what she needs to do as a mother. She decided to post a list of everything that she has been criticized for.
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[post_page_title]Stay-at-Home Mom[/post_page_title]
Everyone thinks that being a stay-at-home mom is a fun and easy life. It's actually not. It's a lot of hard work that goes unappreciated by your husband and kids a lot of the time.
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[post_page_title]Pro Runner's Postpartum Body[/post_page_title]
A pro-runner has decided to show off the reality of her postpartum body. And this is 3 years later. There is no rule as to how or what a woman's body is going to look like after giving birth. Everyone is different. And everyone should just embrace what they have been given.
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[post_page_title]Don't Count Calories[/post_page_title]
Self-indulgence. As women, we often feel guilty when we eat or drink whatever we are feeling like. We worry about how it's going to show up on our bodies later, instead of just enjoying it. The world could end tomorrow, do you really want to regret not eating that third taco?
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