Serena Williams recently shared a video of herself receiving radio frequency treatment on her stomach in a Parisian spa. In the caption, 

she discussed struggling with taking time for herself, and says that only recently has she been able to start doing things for herself, despite feeling guilty for leaving her kids behind. 

“On my last trip to Paris a girlfriend of mine treated me to a spa day. 

She knows after 2 babies I have been self-conscious of my tummy…Listen my body will never be the same but neither will I cause I have 2 amazing lights in my life. 

I will always love my birthing scars but I just wanted to say thanks to my friends Mia and Nat for letting me know it’s ok to take time for myself away from work and kids,” she wrote.

Moms in the comment section immediately began thanking her for her transparency and honesty and for sharing the video. 

I, myself, was floored at her willingness to share such an intimate video, because a lot of moms would agree that after having a baby, your stomach is almost an off-limits zone for everything from romantic partners to cameras. Especially cameras.

The post seemed so sincere and vulnerable that even though it’s unclear whether it’s an ad, it didn’t even matter. I felt inspired to take time for myself, I felt comforted by the fact that I’m not the only person in the world to be self-conscious of my post-baby tummy, and it made me want to visit the exact spa she went to – so if it was an ad, it worked.

Last summer, I spent just shy of $4,000 to receive Emsculpt treatments. The woman in the spa touted it as the top treatment for core tightening amongst celebrities, and went on to name a long list of famous women with perfect bodies and rock hard abs. I, regrettably, ate it all up, pulled my credit card out and took a long time to pay it all off. Did I notice a difference? Kind of. But not one that justified spending nearly $4,000. 

The lesson I learned from that experience is that when celebrities endorse procedures like these, I want to – I have to – believe that the recipient and I are on even ground. And the mere fact that they’re a celebrity already makes that incredibly difficult. So when I see images and videos of celebrities with no rolls, no cellulite, no stretchmarks or loose skin advertising some service that I would, in all likelihood be interested in, it makes it hard to imagine it working on me. Or that if it were to work, I’d have to spend a lot more than they did to achieve the same results. 

But with Serena so proudly baring her tummy, allowing us all to see what the markings of having had an emergency C-section can look like, and particularly while making the point that she wasn’t self-conscious of her birthing scars was comforting, at least to me. 

Celebrity endorsements of procedures like these can often prey on a desperation to return to our pre-baby bodies. We’re vulnerable and we’re susceptible to all the marketing tactics, and with all the talk about the “snap back”, you often find yourself wondering why you’re not snapping back.

But personally, that question, for me, was answered when I saw Serena’s post. Because here is one of the greatest athletes of all time admitting that she, too, struggles with feeling secure in her post-baby body. She, too, feels insecure about what pregnancy did to her tummy. So certainly I can extend myself a bit of grace, right? We all can. As one commenter put it:

“Hearing the greatest athlete of all time talk about any feelings of insecurities with her body/skin DEF lets me know it’s okay to be open and vulnerable about mine.”

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Source: Tampa Bay Times