It’s supposed to be the happiest time of her life, but Dominique Elissa is grappling with an unexpected caveat of entering her third trimester of pregnancy.
In a video, the Aussie model and influencer, who has 380,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, revealed she’s been copping “weird looks” and comments from people since she started showing off her baby bump in public.
Dominique Elissa was shocked by a stranger’s rude comment about her exposed baby bump. Tiktok/@dominiquelissa
She told nine.com.au that while she was filming content in Paddington, Sydney, a woman approached her and commented on what she was wearing.
“I was wearing a leather set with a white singlet underneath and maybe a little bit of my bump showing on the outside,” she said.
“A lady, probably in her late 60s, came up to me and just literally looked at me up and down, and she goes, ‘Oh, that’s very courageous of you to wear,’ and just kept staring at me.
“That left me feeling, obviously, quite uncomfortable.”
After the awkward encounter, she took to her social media to explain what had happened in an attempt to “empower” other pregnant women.
“I’ve been told by multiple strangers that it’s courageous that I’m wearing this. I’ve been looked up and down by men, and I’m feeling judged,” she says to the camera in her video, wearing the outfit in question.
“I’m not just going to sit at home in my trackpants while I’m pregnant. I love getting dressed up, I love feeling good.
“So this is a message to any of my [pregnant] women: wear your bump out, feel confident and who cares about other people.”
“I’m not just going to sit at home in my trackpants while I’m pregnant. I love getting dressed up, I love feeling good.” Instagram/@dominiquelissa
Elissa told nine.com.au she immediately felt self-conscious after the stranger’s comment, and suddenly became aware of odd looks as she was leaving the area.
“I started noticing the looks I was getting on the street, which I feel like I don’t usually take much notice of … because of that comment, as soon as we started taking photos, I felt really, really insecure about it.”
She confessed that while she was capturing content, she started to “judge” how she looked in the pictures.
“This entire pregnancy, I’ve been very body positive and embracing all the changes, the growing belly, the bigger thighs, everything that comes with pregnancy,” she added.
The model said people don’t know what a real baby bump is supposed to look like due to the lack of representation in media. Tiktok/@Dominiquelissa
“I just had to fight that head noise and be like, ‘You know what? That’s one person’s opinion, and I’m going to dress in a way that feels right for me’.”
After sharing the video online, she copped more backlash, with some comments accusing her of making the story up for attention.
“One person was like, ‘This didn’t happen to you. I’m unfollowing you’ … but why would I make this up?” she continued.
“That was really sad, because I was just trying to bring attention to being encouraging of women embracing their bump.”
Elissa also mentioned how disheartening she was seeing the backlash actress Anne Hathaway received after showing off her bump at a movie premiere this week.
Online, some trolls claimed Hathaway was ‘faking’ her bump for publicity, while others criticised her bellybutton or called her bump “weird-looking”.
Elissa believes most people don’t actually know what a real baby bump is supposed to look like, due to the lack of representation in media.
Anne Hathaway got her bump out on the red carpet this week. Getty
“I think that there needs to be more empowerment of showing the bump and not hiding it in the media,” she said.
“It’s quite interesting. As a model, I’ve lost all my work because I’m pregnant, which I completely understand because a lot of the brands I shoot for aren’t for made for pregnant women.
“And then a lot of maternity brands will use a fake bump!”
She is now advocating for pregnant women to show off their bump and feel beautiful while doing it.
“I think we need to have the voices of people being like, ‘You look amazing’ louder than the ones of the people writing ‘hide your C-section scar’, which I saw someone write.
“Stuff like that is really sad to see.”