Who We Are

bonnianne ratliff is an autistic activist committed to intersectional feminism. She is a single mom to two teenagers in Southern California. She graduated from San Diego State University in 2018, magna cum laude with distinction, with a degree in English and a minor in Women’s Studies. She plans to go back for her Master’s in Women’s Studies. She started The Shape of a Mother in July of 2006 because she saw that there was a distinct lack of representation of realistic postpartum bodies in the media at the time. She realized that if people were able to see photos of real, unretouched pregnant and postpartum bodies, it could heal some of the unnecessary shame held by the unrealistic expectations society demands. bonnianne wants people to know that, above all, bodies are functional and that beauty is a construct; all bodies are good bodies. In recent years, bonnianne has been sharing information on various feminist issues as well as some important, lesser-known feminist figures through her series on Badass Bitches From History and her educational infoposts and flyers. She has collected these together to begin this website which she intends to be an accessible resource for all who desire to learn more about the various systems in our society. Eventually, this site will become a print book.

In her free time, bonnianne likes to play Stardew Valley (Shane stan here, y’all) or give her adult children a cultural education by making them watch old John Hughes movies which they then ruin by pointing out things like “wow Duckie isn’t very good about consent, is he?” So basically she parented them too well.

Within a month of SOAM’s creation, the London Guardian had done an article on the website. It has since been featured in The Orange County Register, Fitness and Mothering magazines, Today.com, The Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, and at least two European television shows. Recently, bonnianne has been interviewed by PlusMommy and Whole Mother.