Anna Belenkiy is an amazing freelance illustrator and, thanks to her son who arrived last summer, now a mom. And like all new mothers, she’s in the throes of some major postpartum emotions (understandable as life has changed forever—plus, of course, hormones).
From sleeplessness that brings about anxiety and depression to overwhelming feelings of love, the artist is feeling it all and is channeling it into works of art that speak volumes. So far, she has reimagined four Disney princesses—Ariel, Belle, Mulan and Jasmine—as modern-day moms, and we are here for it.
Her first illustration came just two months after her son, Tommy, was born and shows an Ariel unlike we’ve seen before. Belenkiy created the portrait to represent postpartum anxiety and depression, both of which she experienced. After sharing her struggles, she gives a shout-out: “This post [is] dedicated to all the amazing and strong woman around the world [who are] suffering from postpartum anxiety and depression. You are real fighter[s].”
The next portrait shows an eye-glistening Belle holding baby. Inspired by a real moment Belenkiy had when coming to terms with her postpartum body, the illustration speaks to all moms. She captioned the image, “I started to cry after I realized that I never will be the previous me, I am [a] new version of myself thanks to my baby boy, and those stretching marks are my personal medal of valor.”
Belenkiy’s third illustration shows Mulan grappling with breastfeeding (and stretch marks, too!) and represents a personal struggle the artist had. “A[s] soon as I started to breastfeed I started to suffer from depression and negative feelings about myself, about my motherhood and my achievements.”
She explained feeling relief upon learning that her condition had a name—breastfeeding dysphoria—and the comments are filled with encouraging words from other moms who’d experienced the same thing.
The last illustration depicts a working Jasmine hugging her baby. Whether it’s getting ready to leave them behind or taking in their smell, which we missed all day at work, the image represents the internal struggle working moms experience on a daily basis. Belenkiy even shares that while she craves her son’s smell and touch all day, her job is “absolute rehab.”
As moms who grew up with Disney princesses, it does our hearts good to see them reimagined in such a relatable way. We hope this isn’t the last we see of Anna Belenkiy’s Disney moms.
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