Halsey Wants to Normalize and Celebrate Breastfeeding and Postpartum Bodies

Pregnancy will change you. From changes in your hair and breasts to stretch marks and vagina changes. Some changes are temporary, thankfully, and others will stay around permanently. But, pregnancy body changes are nothing to hide, they're nature's way of showing what you experienced in bringing new life into the world.

Reality of Parenthood

Halsey is continuing to be real about what parenthood looks like in the days following the birth of a baby. The singer posted a candid breastfeeding photo in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week. Then, the 26-year-old uploaded a picture to Instagram that shows off her stretch marks—and fans are praising her for doing it.

The photo was one in a series of snapshots that Halsey—aka, Ashley Frangipane—posted, giving a glimpse into life after having her first child, Ender Ridley Aydin. "Well….this is what it looks like 🧸," Halsey captioned the August 8 post, which included pictures of Ender's room and a snuggle session between Ender and Dad, Halsey's boyfriend, screenwriter Alev Aydin.

But it was the fifth photo—now removed from the feed—that was a close-up of Halsey's stretch marks underneath her belly button, that people were especially happy to see. "Wear those tiger stripes, proud mama!! Love to see it 💫💓💓," one person commented.

"THANK YOU FOR POSTING YOUR STRETCH MARKS!!!!! 🔥," another said. "I love love love that you posted ur cute little stretch marks. I'm 31 weeks pregnant and I keep getting paranoid I'll get them and having to remind myself it doesn't matter," someone else wrote.

Normalize Postpartum Bodies

This is not the first time that Halsey has taken steps to normalize postpartum bodies. The "Bad at Love" singer revealed the artwork for her upcoming album, posting a photo of herself sitting on a throne with a baby in her lap and one breast exposed.

"This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired," she wrote in the caption. "We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!"

The album as a whole, she said, is "about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth." "It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully," she wrote in the caption.

"My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being."