Jenna Dewan Says There's 'Nothing Sexier' Than Motherhood And We're Here For It
Jenna Dewan also opens up about motherhood post-split with Channing Tatum
Most people probably wouldn’t equate motherhood with sexiness — and Jenna Dewan is here to let us all know why we need to start embracing both. Because women and mothers deserve it, damn it.
Dewan, a dancer, actress, and mom to 5-year-old daughter Everly, recently opened up to Women’s Health magazine about life and motherhood now that she and her ex, Channing Tatum, have split. What makes her thoughts so powerful is the passion and power behind them — she clearly feels every woman and mother out there should embrace their inner sexiness, even if the world sometimes tells us not to.
“Apparently, when you become a mother, you’re supposed to leave your sexuality at the door, and I never understood that,” she says. AMEN. When you become a mom, it’s easy to leave a lot of yourself behind and have to learn how to be completely and thoroughly selfless for the first time. As our kids get older and we become more confident in the whole parenting thing, it’s important to try and find that confidence within ourselves again.
“I think there’s nothing sexier than becoming a mother,” Dewan says. “You give life. It’s everything. And you don’t change who you are inside just because you have a kid.”
Last year, Dewan was mommy-shamed for sharing a sexy photo of herself on Instagram, because apparently lots of people on the internet feel that being sexy makes you a bad mother. Lots of women came for her over it, too, because internalized misogyny is more pervasive than we probably want to admit, and it’s a hell of a drug.
As for what life looks like for her now as a single mom, Dewan says it’s been a journey. “And it’s been a transformation of myself—my needs and wants as a woman,” she says. “I think everyone wants to hold on to what’s in front of them, but when you open your mind, saying, ‘I want what’s best for myself and my daughter,’ you have to be okay with however that looks.”
Dewan also shared how important it is for her to be a role model for Everly, and says she hopes she can appreciate her own sexuality someday. “I want my daughter to see that and be like, ‘Wow, my mother was a fully actualized, sensual woman.’”
Because that’s how we break this damaging way of thinking — that women must abandon all sensuality and sexiness once they become mothers. Could you imagine anyone commenting on a shirtless photo of Channing Tatum with “put a shirt on, go be a dad”? Mmmmm, methinks not. It’s hard not to agree with Dewan that everyone can just go ahead and GTFOH with the mom-shaming attitudes.
“Women are so much stronger and more powerful, and living in our goddess energy, when we come together to lift each other up rather than tear each other down.”
