Asked once about how he conducted his complicated personal life, the actor and reputed womanizer Warren Beatty once replied: if you’ve got something to hide, hide it. That sentiment–like Beatty’s general modus operandi–is pretty out of place in today’s world, where transparency is in and pride in every aspect of yourself, no matter what it is, is the rage. (How else explain reality TV?)
But a mother named Erin Zammett Ruddy is taking the Warren Beatty approach to what she thinks is her no-longer-bikini-ready body. Despite all the clamor recently by women who refuse to be body-shamed just for having children (and good for them! shouts Ruddy), Ruddy herself is resigned to wearing a one-piece suit at the beach. Ruddy has three children and carrying them took away her bikini bod, in her opinion. Not liking this fact doesn’t mean she loves her children any less, she writes. Ruddy gives a spot of relief to all those women out there who actually don’t like their stretch marks and don’t feel particularly proud of them. She doesn’t think of her stretch marks as “motherhood stripes” and she doesn’t want to show them off on the beach. She wrote her essay to let other women know that if they feel the same way, “that’s ok, too!” Plus, she says, “you can still look great in a one-piece.” No doubt.
