Elisabeth Hasselbeck bares her belly on 'The View'

According to TMZ, Elisabeth Hasselbeck bared her belly on 'The View' after hearing that Barbara Walters was unable to reveal her own pregnancy whilst hosting the 'Today' show many years ago. Hasselbeck, lifted her top and revealed her bump to Babs' surprise..and said:

'You don't get naked when you're not pregnant. You're pregnant all of a sudden and you're nude walking around, showing the belly. I definitely feel different. I feel like I'm more comfortable with my body when I'm pregnant. I see my body as a vessel of someone else. I feel more comfortable in my own skin'.

Hasselbeck also randomly talked about incontinence in her pregnancy with a very bizarre story involving her daughter's nappies!

Watch the video here: http://www.tmz.com/2007/07/18/elisabeth-gone-wild/#comments

Jaime Pressly tells it like it is...pregnancy was 'a killer'

I've posted about My Name is Earl star, Jaime Pressly, a bit over the last few months and I found this article from The New Zealand Herald really interesting because Pressly gushed about how much she loved being pregnant in every article I read about her and this new one paints a completely different picture of how she felt about her body (assuming she actually said the things that have been quoted!). In fact, I am sceptical that she actually did say half of this stuff because most celebrities tend to censor what they say, especially with regard to pregnancy, so they appear as though they are the epitome of idyllic motherhood. It's like no matter how bad they feel about themselves, they all say gaining weight never bothers them, motherhood is amazing, blah blah blah. In this article, Jaime Pressly says she thought pregnancy 'sucked' and she 'hated being fat'. If that's not being candid, well, I don't know what is!

On her pregnancy:
'As a new mom I'm supposed to go on about how wonderful it was to be pregnant. Well, I don't buy into that. The truth is that I love my baby to bits, but the rest of it sucked. Pregnancy was the biggest killer for me. I hated it - I hated being fat'.

On mood swings:
'My hormones were all over the place and I acted like some lunatic, picking fights with my boyfriend over how he made my coffee'.

On her skin:
'On top of that I had this hideous 'pregnancy mask' skin discolouration which completely covered my face. You can normally use creams to disguise it, but not when you're pregnant, so I had to walk around looking like I was horribly disfigured. This may sound arrogant, but I'm used to looking hot. I just wanted to cry all the time'.

On motherhood:
'Nobody tells you this stuff when you talk about having a baby - it's all kept as one big secret. The only amazing thing is when your baby pops out and you have this little thing that is going to be part of your life forever'.

On losing weight:
'I'm having a party and then a holiday and I aim to be in a super-slutty outfit for the first and a swimsuit for the second. I love being a mother, but I want to be a super sexy mother with a better body than ever before. When I pull on my spray-on jeans for my party, I want to look in the mirror and like what I see'.

On her postbaby body:
'People may think it's mad but it makes me happier to see my body coming back'.

On celebs who adopt:
'Some women just skip having babies or adopt because they don't want to get fat or they haven't put in the time to find a partner. It's great to adopt, but a lot of adoptions are motivated by vanity and laziness'.

Source:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10452208

Tori Spelling embraces her new curves

When she was pregnant Tori Spelling gained 40 lbs (18 kg) and in only 4 months, she has lost 22 lbs (10kg) so she is well on her way to making it to her pre-pregnancy weight of 115 lbs (52kg) as a result of her NutriSystem diet (which I've written about previously). In this week's Us magazine, Tori talks about her weight loss and motherhood. Apparently, it was a rude shock to discover that breastfeeding did not make a significant dent in her pregnancy weight gain.

On her body a few weeks post birth:
“I thought I looked heavier after I had the baby. [The bulge] left the stomach area and shifted into areas that I didn’t know could gain weight…I was like, Uh-oh”.

On exercise:
To supplement her healthy diet, Spelling started working out with trainer Sam Levine two months after giving birth. Two to three times a week “we do a lot of kickboxing, work on the abs, squats and lunges,” she says.

On her postbaby body:
“I like my curves. I’m happy with the way I look. I don’t think about getting down to a size 0 or a size 2 because that was before. I’m a mom now!”

I think this is a strange statement. It just reinforces alot of sociohistorical associations of motherhood as un-sexy, meaning that the mother's body sort of becomes a function of her child's needs and not a desirable sexual 'object'. I think it's interesting that she says this because celebrities are the ones that have gone out of their way to make motherhood overtly sexy and glamorous.

But then in the next breath she says her goal is to lose another 10 pounds and then flaunt her knockout figure.

On being a sexy mum:
“I’m going to put on a bikini and walk proudly down the beach!”

Sources:
http://etonline.com/celebrities/news/49044/index.html
http://usmagazine.com/tori_spelling_ive_lost_22_pounds

Empowered pregancy or just good marketing?

As my last post spruiked the merits of retail therapy, particularly when it comes to fancy breastfeeding bras, and more importantly the joy in purchasing a maternity bra that isn't a heinous shade of beige, I attempted to make the point that it is bizarre that proudly pregnant women in bras are somehow offensive given that we see scantily clad or naked women on a daily basis in the media. After all, plenty of celebrities parade around naked and pregnant and plenty of everyday women get photographs taken of themselves as a keepsake of a beautiful time so what's the big freaking deal with women having a bit of fun? If cherry print French knickers from 'Hot Milk' make you feel a little bit better in your 40th week, you go girl!

So then I found this commentary on pregnancy and in particular, the 'Hot Milk'/soft porn debate. Rosemary McLeod writes:

"Since I was pregnant last there've been big changes in lingerie, too. Once you could only get white or flesh-coloured maternity bras, magnifying the size of your watermelons. Now you can actually get black – and even colour. The only drawback to buying the latest lingerie for pregnancy, designed to make women feel sexy at an un-sexy time, is the brand. In the case of a new local company producing a catalogue for breastfeeding and pregnant mothers, it's "Hot Milk". You'd have to rip the label off your bra rather than admit you'd succumbed. What if you were run over by a bus, and the nurses in casualty saw it?

Women who've received the catalogue, which features real pregnant women as models, have complained that the images are "soft porn". This sounds like wishful thinking on their part, poor darlings. What they ought to be objecting to is a jokey label that defines lactating women as some kind of cappuccino machine for infants. Rather than cheering you up and making you feel good about the experience, it'd have you wondering why your breasts weren't chrome like the rest of your yuppie kitchen, and whether they came with a lifetime guarantee".

This bit really annoys me because the writer is doing exactly what she sets out not to do. Her article is based entirely on the premise that pregnancy isn't always fun and games; not all women feel hot and happening and no one should feel pressure to meet cultural expectations. I agree with this. However, she instead suggests that just because she didn't feel 'sexy' in pregnancy, somehow it's not on for other pregnant women to enjoy breastfeeding or pregnancy with a great bra. She says pregnancy is categorically 'un-sexy'. Is she living in a bubble? Pregnant bodies are sexed, sexual bodies (which is not really surprising given that being pregnant is basically an announcement that you have had sex!) And what exactly are women 'succumbing to' as she suggests, by buying a bra?

Since when is it a bad thing to proud of being a mother?

Source:
The Horrors of Maternity http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4133172a1861.html

Maternity lingerie is apparently 'soft porn'

Ironically, I was doing a brief for a pregnancy company in London about hot products from around the world and I just so happened to mention that Kiwi maternity lingerie company, Hot Milk (http://www.hotmilklingerie.co.nz/), was the only way for pregnant mums to save their chests from nine months of sheer boredom. For those in the know, Hot Milk is hot these days and the sexy but completely functional designs are by far the most desirable underthings a preggo could ever want (and in a range of sizes that do not begin and end with XS). The ‘Cherry Bomb Chic’ bra and matching microfibre French knickers are so amazing you would want to get pregnant just so you could wear them.

Anyway, back to my point. One of my secret sources sent me an article this morning explaining that the ladies of Hot Milk have been accused of pedaling 'soft porn' in their latest catalogue as beautiful pregnant bellies dazzle the glossy pages in black satin and bows, looking all feminista and fabulous. Apparently, online store Breastmates sent out the new catalogue to their database of women in New Zealand, many of whom complained of 'explicit' images tarnishing their pristine in-boxes.

I find this so fascinating. Everyone in the media (and I'm guilty of it myself) rants about how fantastic it is that pregnant women can show off their bellies proudly, that celebrities can accessorise with a baby bump instead of a Balenciaga, that because of Demi Moore and her infamous naked pregnant photo shoot, doing a 'Demi' on a magazine cover is like Starbucks in America. And yet, a few pregnant women in bras celebrating their bodies are branded as porn? Did I mention that Demi and Britney and recently, Mylene Klass, were NAKED on the covers of magazines and everyone gave them three cheers?

People are strange. If anything, I hope that Hot Milk gets a boatload of publicity and in turn, sells more bras.

Full article:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4128734a11.html

Wet-nursing: is your own breast best?

Apparently wet-nursing, the age old practice of paying women to feed other women's babies, is back and Americans have been talking about it (alot). News obviously doesn't travel as fast this far down under so this is the first I've heard of this borrowed boob revival. Not only are everyday mothers sharing their milk (known as cross-nursing) but celebrities are also hiring wet nurses from a few agencies who make their profit in the 'outsourcing' of milk, a side effect of stars being too rich, too busy and having one too many breast augmentations.
See http://www.certifiedhouseholdstaffing.com/

So what is the problem? If a mother is unable to feed her child, is it wrong to have a friend feed the baby for her? Some sociologists suggest that the reason people are so weirded out by sharing around breasts is the idea that breasts are culturally erotic and somehow feeding someone else's child is tantamount to paedophilia or even child abuse. Some critics argue that breastfeeding is solely the responsibility of the birth mother and if she can't feed she is missing that essential bonding time with her baby.

I do have a problem with the fact that the Australian Marie Claire article (link below) suggests that a wet nurse is the latest celebrity 'accessory' on par with elective caesars, drivers or dog walkers. Sure celebrities have alot of people that are paid to run their lives but I think the suggestion that the modern day wet nurse is as frivolous as a dog walker is irresponsible. I think there are plenty of women in the world who are unable to feed and have finally found a plausible solution to avoid formula. There are also plenty of women who want to go back to work and probably can't be bothered to feed for very long (and I'm not here to pass judgment). On a totally different level, wet nursing carries alot of historical weight particularly in America during slavery when black women were co-opted into feeding white women's babies pretty much by force or out of necessity. As slaves, black women had to abandon their own children to feed white babies. Really, when it comes down to it, wet nursing isn't 'new' at all and in fact, women have been engaged in the practice of feeding other women's babies for hundreds of years. Why should we stop now?

Further reading:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,,1983360,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612710,00.html
http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/marie-claire/1839/wet-nurses-the-latest-a-list-accessory/

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