Olivia Wilde: I’m a Mother, and I Look Like One

Olivia Wilde covers the April issue of Shape magazine while opening up about how she has embraced her body since giving birth to son Otis Alexander 11 months ago. 

“I am not in perfect shape. In fact, I’m softer than I’ve ever been, including that unfortunate semester in high school when I simultaneously discovered Krispy Kreme and pot,” she said in a writeup. “The photos of me in this magazine have been generously constructed to show my best angles, and I assure you, good lighting has been warmly embraced. The truth is, I’m a mother, and I look like one.”

Wilde also explains how a more intimate area of her body has changed since childbirth.

“First of all, you haven’t seen your vagina in months, even though it’s all her fault you’re in this situation,” she wrote. “Now that you can finally confirm that she is, in fact, still there, she isn’t the gal that you remember, and would rather you back off and give her some space (and an ice diaper) for the time being, thank you very much.”

The star also believes moms should not feel pressured to make their bodies look exactly the way they did before giving birth. 

“I believe in a world where mothers are not expected to shed any physical evidence of their child-bearing experience,” Wilde said. “In that same world I believe there is space for exercise to be as much a gift to your brain as it is your body. I don’t want to waste my time striving for some subjective definition of perfection.”

Be sure to pick up Shape magazine on newsstands now to read the full article.