Mom hits back after being criticized for posing in bikini in front of teenage son

A mom has spoken out after facing trolling for sharing a picture of herself in a bikini posing with her son.

It may be 2024, but apparently it's still shocking to some to see a woman wearing a bikini in her own home surrounded by family when it's boiling hot outside.

Fitness influencer and mom Sophie Guidolin - who lives in the Gold Coast of Australia - found this out the hard way after sharing a photograph of herself and her son to her social media, however, she's since hit back at the the haters in another post to Instagram.

The mom-of-four - who is also an award-winning bodybuilder - took to her Instagram in 2022 to share a picture of herself and her son Kai in celebration of his 15th birthday.

The image showed her embracing her son while standing on the patio, with the mom wearing a green bandeau bikini top and matching bottoms and Kai in black shorts and a black sleeveless top.

Despite the sweet gesture and cute snap of the mother and son, some followers took offence to the image and didn't shy away from leaping to their keyboards to give Sophie a piece of their minds, arguing the photograph was 'too sexualised'.

And nearly two years on, Sophie has reflected on the reaction to her post which went viral.

The mom posted a video of herself with one of her sons in the background onto her page last week, posing in a bikini alongside the caption: "POV: your mama is an IFBB BIKINI PRO."

She added: "Lol remember when the media tried to shame me for wearing a bikini in front of my son… forgetting I was an #ifbbbikinipro and I do this as a sport my son doesn’t sexualise my body so why do others this my friends is 13 years of hard work."

At the time, Sophie also addressed the negativity she received online in a post to her Story.

She said: "Having a body is normal, having body parts is normal. It’s not sexualised, it’s not shameful and it’s something I really, really reiterate and drive home here with my boys.

"So when they see me in a bikini they don’t think anything other than: 'Mum’s tanning, Mum’s going to the beach, Mum’s going for a swim'.

"They don’t see me and be like, 'Oooo what a sexy bum you’ve got'. So stop sexualising bodies and bodies will stop being sexualised."

Kai also appeared in a Story branding the backlash online simply as 'dumb'.

And I don't think I could've said it any better myself.

UNILAD has contacted Sophie Guidolin for comment.

Topics: Australia, Fashion, Instagram, Mental Health, Parenting, Social Media

Poppy Bilderbeck

Poppy Bilderbeck is a Senior Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from The University of Manchester in 2021 with a First in English Literature and Drama, where alongside her studies she was Editor-in-Chief of The Tab Manchester. Poppy is most comfortable when chatting about all things mental health, is proving a drama degree is far from useless by watching and reviewing as many TV shows and films as possible and is such a crisp fanatic the office has been forced to release them in batches.