Dress your bump in nothing at all

Because I know what you're going to be wearing in your third trimester.....the folks at San Diego's Rock 105.3 think you should proudly show everyone?

Considering most women in their third trimester have enough trouble just trying to find shoes that actually fit, I guess a bikini contest eliminates all the hassle of dressing at all.

Read more and photos: Pregnant Bikini Contest

Be a part of my book!

Hello all.

I have opportunities to offer you.

As many of you know, I am writing a book about yummy mummies, baby bumps and body image.

I am looking for a few women to follow for the book through pregnancy and post-birth. I am in need of:


1) self-described 'yummy mummies'
2) a pregnant women in rural Australia
3) someone who is planning (or has done) a pregnancy spa retreat
4) someone who has done or is planning to go on a babymoon

For more details, email me: babybumpproject[at]yahoo.com.au

Yay!

Making more beautiful mothers with a nip and tuck

Well, I have seen the future and it is not good.

A new children's book has been written by a plastic surgeon in order to explain why 'mommy' will be more beautiful when she has a tummy tuck...and it's being released on Mother's Day.

"My Beautiful Mommy" is aimed at kids ages four to seven and features a plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael (a musclebound superhero type) and a girl whose mother gets a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants. Before her surgery the mom explains that she is getting a smaller tummy: "You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better." Mom comes home looking like a slightly bruised Barbie doll with demure bandages on her nose and around her waist."

So 'mommy' recovers easily, with no complications and is 'more beautiful' after all of her fat has been sucked away. Excellent message to send to young children.

Seriously? No, really. SERIOUSLY?! I have no words.

Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/132240/page/1

Rachel Weisz thinks motherhood is sexy

Actress Rachel Weisz thinks that motherhood is hot. Since giving birth in May 2006, Rachel says:

“I feel sexier after having a baby. I think you feel a lot more confident and much more appreciative of your body and what it’s capable of doing. I’ve got a lot more respect for it.”

And she claims that she isn't one of those celebrities that shifts the baby weight in a few weeks:

“When I stopped breastfeeding I gained some. It took me more than a year to get back to where I was.”

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/film/article811230.ece

Celebrating body hatred: The 'Mummy Makeover'

A recent survey in Britain among new mothers found that one in four was considering cosmetic surgery to restore their pre-pregnancy figure. Three-quarters said they were shocked by the effect of pregnancy on their bodies, and almost all said they were repelled when they saw their stretch marks, flabby stomachs and sagging breasts.

Well, folks. Hating your post-baby body has official gone transnational. Thanks to the 'Mummy Makeover' cosmetic surgery packages (liposuction, tummy tuck, breast augmentation) sweeping the US and Australia, British women are hopping on the nip/tuck bandwagon.

I find it extremely discomfiting that cosmetic surgery procedures are treated as mundane or routine as a manicure or hair cut. As Jennifer Cognard-Black argues in Ms Magazine, 'choice' is often used in reference to women and cosmetic surgery as a way of sidetracking the more significant underlying issues.

"The word "choice" obviously plays on reproductive-rights connotations, so that consumers will trust that they are maintaining autonomy over their bodies. Yet one choice goes completely unmentioned: The choice not to consider cosmetic surgery at all."

Sure, having a 'flabby' belly post-baby is no walk in the park and who can blame women for feeling as though their self-image has taken a huge hit?! But, since when is it okay to tell women that they should pay alot of money to have the fat sucked out of their thighs just because they gave birth?

Recent media stories suggesting plastic surgery and 'Mummy Makeovers' are the new feminist aesthetic is more problematic than perhaps I'm willing to discuss. In light of the plethora of makeover shows, the constant barrage of celebrity body 'enhancement' stories in the tabloids, and the thriving weight loss industry in America it is no wonder that new mums think that if they only lose a few extra kilos or just get their thighs a bit thinner or have perkier breasts, they will be happy. In my opinion, the 'Mummy Makeover' is the latest capitalist salve for antenatal depression that often goes undiagnosed during pregnancy and continues postnatally. Losing weight and looking good don't go very far if you still have a baby that wont stop crying or a husband that can't seem to do his share. Cosmetic surgery for women has become normalised. It is NOT 'normal' to cut up your body. The desire for homogeneity, for all women to look the same, slim hips, smooth skin and no 'fat', is a blatant attempt to de-individualise women and we should all be angry and not complicit.

Source: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/parenting/mummy-makeovers-that-would-horrify-1960s-feminists-1242124.html

http://www.msmagazine.com/summer2007/extreme-makeover.asp

Celebrity yummy mummies

Hmm...Isn't this a coincidence? Sounds alot like my research which has been heavily publicised in three countries......

WOMEN are increasingly concerned about their shape and weight during pregnancy, partly due to the media's focus on celebrity yummy mummies, experts say. Psychologist Beth Shelton from Swinburne University said there seems to be “strong, unwritten social rules” about how much weight is acceptable to gain, where that weight goes and how long it takes to lose it after the baby is born.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22874688-1702,00.html

This particular researcher only followed 13 women (which they don't mention in any of the articles)....I did more than 200 interviews with 40 women.

*Sigh*

Cate Blanchett and her 'bump'

As we have known for awhile now, actress Cate Blanchett is pregnant. Photographed at the premiere of her new movie, I'm Not Here, Blanchett's bump is finally visible in this body-hugging dress coupled with sky-high stillettos. According to The Daily Mail, Blanchett's outward fertility coupled with her sexy footwear was unseemly:

"The five inch heels appeared to be more suited to the Manolo loving Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica-Parker) of Sex and the City, rather than a expectant mother."

I find this comment so bizarre. The global media is obsessed with pregnant women. The 'yummy mummy' is an identity that has linked sex and motherhood inextricably. We have seen pictures of Katie Price bearing her belly in mini-skirts and platform shoes, pregnant women of all sorts wearing tightly fitting tops that reveal a blooming belly and a whole range of hipster maternity jeans and fancy maternity lingerie that allow pregnant women to still feel sexy and glamorous in pregnancy. This is nothing new; yet, Cate Blanchett wearing a pair of stilettos is still somehow a confronting image for this particular journalist. What is it about stilettos that is so 'un-mother'? After all, pregnancy is the most visible representation of a sexed body that a woman can ever have. Being visibly pregnant is a firm indication that a woman has had sex. As stilettos are famous for their association with raunchy bedroom antics, porn and anything else even remotely titillating, the idea that a pregnant woman wearing them is somehow antithetical to imagery of an 'expectant mother' is probably correct on some level historically but totally detached from the culture of popular media that celebrates sexy pregnant women (Hello, Maxim?!)

The Daily Mail itself is a 'newspaper' (if you can call it that) that prides itself on dishing on pregnant women, commenting on maternity fashion and criticising pregnant celebrities when they don't look glamorous enough.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=499634&in_page_id=1773

A picture is worth a thousand words

This is quite possibly the best possible cartoon to describe the purposes of this blog. I love it.

Source: http://www.mikhaela.net

http://feministing.com/archives/008067.html#comments

Being yummy costs money

Here are some frightening statistics:

British mums are spending close to £6 billion a year on Botox, beauty treatments and body conditioning in an attempt to regain their pre-baby figures.

They spend an average of £939 buying the latest baby accessories and treat themselves to a £123 makeover after giving birth - making a total of £1,062 each.

In the survey for the online bank Egg, a third of mothers admitted they felt pressured to buy designer items such as Bugaboo prams, which can cost up to £599.

More than one in five said they bought designer gadgets or the latest technology for bringing up baby.

Twelve per cent bought designer highchairs, 8 per cent splashed out on designer baby clothes, and 7 per cent bought bespoke furniture.

Almost nine in ten (87 per cent) had their hair styled and bought new clothes after the birth, and a small number admitted to having botox injections or employing a personal trainer.

Around 15 per cent said they had visited the beautician shortly after giving birth.

This is my theory. As a result of women having children later in life (mid-late 30s) children have becoming increasingly precious and commodified. Mid-life mums have more money to spend and also tend to be more worried about regaining their pre-pregnancy identities after having a career for so many years prior to motherhood. As I said in a previous post, clever companies are taking advantage of middle-class mother anxiety by selling as many products as they can to assuage the guilt associated with having a body that doesn't 'bounce back' or a baby that isn't lavished with the best, most desirable designer duds. Coupled with a celebrity culture that makes 'bouncing back' look easy, the pressure to return to 'normal' and 'thin' is now the only way that many women feel they will regain their sense of self. When you think about it, 'yummy mummy' is the antithesis of everything we associate with motherhood. The classical maternal body is supposed to be self-sacrificing, asexual and pudgy. YM's indulge themselves, wear short skirts and look thinner than they did before they became mothers.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=490309&in_page_id=1770