Beach bump

Kendra Wilkinson sporting a beach bump

Workin' it summer style

Girls of summer: Nicole Richie and French model Laetitia Casta workin' their preggo bikini bods

Jessica Alba bikini body

Jessica Alba: 4 months post-birth. I think 'Wow' is not nearly sufficient.

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/news/jessica-alba-shows-off-post-baby-body
Photo credit: Clasos.com/Splash News

Minnie Driver bikini stylin

In case you forgot, Minnie Driver is still pregnant.

Source: http://www.idontlikeyouinthatway.com/2008/08/minnie-driver-is-somewhat-pregnant.html

More bikinis: J.Lo post-baby

The interwebs is abuzz with new photos of Jennifer Lopez in a bikini 4 months post-babies. Aside from the issue of her body (very much 'bounced back'), I am totally creeped out by the fact that some websites have more than 30 photos of Jennifer and Marc Anthony spending time with their babies in Spain. Neither of them were aware of the photos being taken and it's all a bit too voyeuristic for me. I feel like a perv looking at these photos.

See for yourself: http://popsugar.com/1736125

Nicole v. Britney: baring their lady lumps

Due to popular demand (okay, 1 reader), I am going to talk about Nicole Ritchie and her bump. I've been avoiding it for a very long time now (as you might have noticed) but I thought this would be a good opportunity to say a few things about baby bumps and bikinis. Up until recently, being pregnant and wearing a bikini was simply not on. Sure, you're probably thinking...ever since Demi Moore pregnancy is sexy! Women can be out and proud with their bumps...

In reality, however, the exposure of the bump is still a bit taboo outside of Hollywood even though maternity fashion is tighter, a bit more low-rise and definitely low-cut. Wearing a bikini during pregnancy especially challenges conventional boundaries between the feminine body and the external world where the male gaze dictates the norms for feminine beauty, body shape and comportment. This is what led me to my thought about Nicole Ritchie. I am really surprised not to find crazy rants about how 'obscene' it is that a pregnant woman is wearing a string bikini when only a few years ago people went nuts over pictures of Britney Spears sporting the same duds (or lack thereof...) in the picture above in 2005 and again in 2006. Her body was described as grotesque: words such as 'fat' and 'gross' were used with reckless abandon along with suggestions that at almost 9 months pregnant no one wanted to see Britney's big 'fat' stomach.

Fast forward to Nicole Ritchie and her beach attire this week. According to all the newspaper articles from the past few days, Ritchie looks 'amazing', 'sexy' and everyone seems to be pleased that she is happily 'flaunting' her baby belly. There has been no mention of 'fat' or 'gross'.

So how can we explain these seemingly contradictory positions regarding the exposure of the bump?

One one hand, I'd like to think that the world is getting a little less conservative when it comes to the representation of pregnancy. However, I think that is giving a bit too much credit to progressive thinking. My feeling is that the way that these bikini-clad pregnant bodies are depicted in the media all comes down to celebrity status. As everyone knows, Britney Spears is public enemy #1 when it comes to motherhood. No matter what she does, Britney will eternally be known as the world's worst mother in the media. Nicole Ritchie, on the other hand, has garnered an inordinate amount of sympathy because of her 1) alleged eating disorder 2) her run-in with the law 3) her jail time.

Ritchie's pregnancy has completely changed her celebrity status. Since falling pregnant she has vowed that her life has totally changed; she wants to be a good mother, she is planning to get married and she has changed all of her previously 'bad' lifestyle habits to protect her baby. Therefore, her position as a 'good' mother in pregnancy is reflected in the comments about her body. Pregnancy is seemingly more beautiful and glorious and celebrated when the pregnant woman is seen to be a 'good' mother. Britney's body, on the other hand, is represented as 'unfit' and 'fat' because she is a 'bad' mother. Moreover, Spears’ image as a ‘sexy mother’ (unlike Nicole) suggests the ‘anti-mother’, in her physical subversion of cultural mores that make women sexless ‘good mothers’ who are completely focused on the well-being of the fetus. Britney is never depicted as actually caring about her children: she is irresponsible when she is pregnant and when she is not pregnant. Nicole's body can be 'sexy' because her behaviour marks her as a 'good' mother and this is tied to her willingness to set aside her desire to be thin and instead she has embraced a maternal, more feminine body.

Bikini bods after baby: photos that will make everyday mums want to cry

I was just perusing the world of celebrity and salacious gossip as I do and came across this little beauty from Us, my favourite trashy American rag. Entitled 'Bikini Bods After Baby', you can perve on stars like Jennifer Garner, Angie Harmon and Brooke Burke who regained seriously fit bodies following the births of their children. Whilst truly amazing, I'm not suggesting that these celeb bodies are something mothers everywhere should be aspiring to, quite the opposite.

I think these pictures demonstrate just how crazy Hollywood has become considering Brooke Burke, for example, felt so much pressure to 'bounce back' she dropped more than 15 kilos in less than 6 months. She says, 'I started working out a week after she [her daughter] was born'. Denise Richards posed for Playboy only 5 months after her daughter Sam was born in 2004 thanks to 'pilates'. Yeah bloody right. She must have been doing alot more than pilates to drop 15 or so kilos in 5 months.

Have a squiz at the photos yourself and you be the judge.
http://usmagazine.com/bods_after_baby_slideshow