A Postpartum Ad Showing a New Mom Got Too Real For the Oscars

A Postpartum Ad Showing a New Mom Got Too Real For the Oscars

A screen grab of the Frida Mom ad that was rejected by the Oscars

As the euphoria around the big win for South Korean film Parasite dies down, moms are taking on the Oscars for being too queasy to show some reality. An ad for postpartum products depicts a new mom waking up in the night to go to the toilet. She is in pain and discomfort. Wearing a pad and a mesh underwear, she struggles to sit on the toilet seat, change her pad and get up, all the while the baby cries in the backdrop. It's raw, it is real and it is not pretty to look at - much like motherhood.

The Academy rejected the ad because it is "too graphic with partial nudity and product demonstration."

The company hit back by releasing it on Youtube with this messaging, "the ad is not violent, political, or sexual. It is not religious or lewd, does not portray guns or ammunition" Yet it was rejected.

Giving birth is often described as the worst pain a person can go through. You bleed, your vagina tears, you get stitches , you body takes a beating that it may never recover from, you get cramps, you are in pain, it's a struggle to sit, to stand, to walk, to breathe. And yet, the portrayal of new moms has always been one of a happy, smiling, slightly overwhelmed woman.

It doesn't help that the stories that get hype and coverage are of celebrities getting back to their 'pre-baby size' in weeks if not months.

Swollen breasts, jammed teats, lack of sleep, dishevelled appearance and pain don't make for pretty palatable ads.

Instagram moms with perfectly blow dried hair, make up, beautiful clothes advertising postpartum products often leave real women with real experience feeling conflicted with their reality.

And moms have had enough.

FIT is launching its 'Her Health' campaign. The campaign will focus on health stories that put women and their health issues at the front and centre. For long, woman's health has been sidelined and put on the back burner, not taken seriously, not researched, not explored, silenced.

What would you like us to talk about? Would you like to participate on our campaign? Are there health issues you would like us to take up?

Write to us at [e-mail] with 'Her Health' in the subject line, and we'll get back to you.

Also Read: My Pain Is Real: Stories of Neglect & Biases Towards Women’s Pain