Mona Monyane opens up about being criticized for her second pregnancy

Speaking to Jeannie D on SABC 3’s Afternoon express, Actress Mona Monyane expressed her surprise at the backlash she got for announcing her second pregnancy shortly after giving birth to her first child with her husband Khulu Skenjana.

The actress and her husband had their first child back in mid-2016 and in June 2017, she announced that they were expecting their second…

While it was a happy occasion, some fans posted comments such as “again?” “it’s too soon” and other comments insinuating that she should have waited longer to fall pregnant. In true Mona Monyane style, she clapped back in a video.

“This one is for the ladies who have opinions about when other women can and cannot have children. Is this not my vag!na? Did I loan my vag!na from you? Did you somehow put in a petition to have ownership of my vag!na, and then I decided that I’m not going to release my vagina to you? I still want to have children. Unless we’re sharing, then your opinion does not matter, my love. So, women, it’s already too rough for us to be turning against each other, please, just be happy for other people,” Mona said in a video on Instagram. “I think because people have a sense of ownership over anyone whose job puts them in the public eye, they tend to express themselves in ways that can come across as extremely disrespectful and invasive. Questions about my financial ability, as well as comments expressing opinions that it was ‘too soon’, really had me wondering why I had to explain choices regarding my body.”

Speaking to Move! Magazine shortly after it happened, Mona explained how she felt “I had a couple of women comment on my page and express that they too have had negative comments about getting pregnant in quick succession. What really affected me was they both lost previous pregnancies and yet people were making them feel bad instead of helping them celebrate the new life growing inside them.”

“That’s when I decided to share my opinion on the matter. I hate everything that has to do with breaking down the morale of women in any shape or form. We already live in a world where women are objectified and aren’t able to express full ownership of their bodies due to oppressive patriarchal structures. To have other women further enforcing that oppression onto other women is something I struggle to just sit back and watch,” she added.

She shared the same sentiments on her Afternoon Express interview in addition to discussing her new #MelaninMagic movement and her journey into motherhood.