Radhika Apte shared her pregnancy photo shoot and all hell broke loose. Why are critics so unhappy with her bold – and as many would call it an empowering pregnancy photo shoot
All hell broke loose when Radhika Apte the critically acclaimed actress known to be different and unique in her choice of roles now chose to share her pregnancy shoot for the world to see.
Known to be protective of her personal life, Radhika after delivering her baby shared her pregnancy shoot pictures with Vogue magazine, where she rocked the baby bump with grace. That she wore elegant sheer designer dresses that highlighted her beautiful pregnant self was supremely inspiring.
Her photo shoot that is breaking the internet breaks the perfect body stereotypes, which in a weirdly ridiculous way have taken over even the pregnancy shoots. It is expected of women that they are perfect despite carrying a baby with them and going through the physical and mental changes.
Yet, like it is when there is criticism and anti-feministic rant that accompanies any and every kind of empowering bold act – Radhika Apte in addition to a huge amount of adulation and admiration is receiving strong backlash as well.
While there are those who feel that the world, especially the women have to accept and admire woman’s body as it goes through different phases of pregnancy and also have to see and appreciate women’s body even as it ages – there are a bunch of other who have issues with Radhika Apte’s choice of clothes.
Her looks included a fishnet-style mesh backless dress made of sequins designed by UK-based Ashish Gupta. The backless body-hugging dress supports her baby bump sensuously and she carries the look brilliantly with simple make up and shoulder length hair.
She sported a slick combed back hair and bronzed body while wearing a brown coloured beach halter neck cover up dress in chiffon with plunging V-neckline designed by Jawara Alleyne.
The third look in white turtleneck sleeveless gown cut around the belly that shows off her baby bump is designed by label Di Petsa.
Recently Radhika also posted on her Instagram a picture that shows her breast feeding her baby while she is at work on her laptop.
She shares in her interview with the magazine – “Truth is, I struggled to embrace how I looked at the time. I had never seen myself put on so much weight. My body was swollen, I had shooting pains in my pelvis, and the lack of sleep had skewed my perspective on everything. Now, not even two weeks into motherhood, my body looks different again.”
Pregnant women are told they look beautiful. But not many feel so beautiful about their bodies that go through so many changes. While it is time to celebrate and cherish every moment – the existing stereotypes of perfect bodies and misleading advertisements adding to the pre-conditioning – create self doubt and unnecessary stress. Women must learn to appreciate and celebrate changes to their bodies during the memorable time of their lives and beyond.
Even Radhika says she has understood this after revisiting her pictures post delivery. A different perspective has set in. I look at these photos with much kinder eyes and feel bad for being so hard on myself. Now, I can see only beauty in these changes, and I know I will cherish these photos forever,” she adds.
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