J.Lo too good for paper hospital gown

It seems the more time I devote to following celebrity pregnancy, which at one time used to give me an unsettling thrill, now is just starting to make me angry. Celebrity preggos no longer appeal to me as 'real' women with the luxury of a bit of fame and fortune, but rather caricatures of 'isms': flagrant consumerism, narcissism and old school maternalism. Or maybe it's just because I have serious issues with J.Lo.

What has prompted my rant? Well, according to MSNBC J.Lo has not only had couture hospital gowns prepared for her hospital stay but has apparently elected to have a caesar for the birth of her alleged twins. I don't know what makes me more angry, the fact that J.Lo is too good for a paper hospital gown and requires a matching couture robe or that she's having an elective caesar. Why in the world would you choose to have a caesar unless it was medically necessary? Given that all of these celebrity women apparently want to have babies so badly, I find it really hard to believe that they are all so 'busy' that they simply do not have time to allow a baby (or babies, whatever the case may be) to come into the world in its own time. A caesarean does not make birth easier contrary to popular belief. It's amazing that such smart, successful women continue to believe their bodies are not capable of pushing out a baby.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22940662/

Uterus news

Word on the street has it that Angelina Jolie is looking to 'sell' her twin pregnancy story to the highest bidder. Christina Aguilera is set to make $1.5 million from Ok! for the first photos of her son and Nicole Richie is to earn $1 million for photos of Harlow.

An open letter to all of the celebrities who are pregnant or are thinking about getting pregnant anytime soon:

As part of the tabloid reading public, I am sick and tired of you farming out the contents of your uteruses to the global media for millions of dollars before your belly even starts to have a hint of swell. Sure, you say, it's all going to charity, you're doing this 'for the children', blah blah blah. Wake up and smell the new millenium. Everyone loves a good baby cover story but don't you think selling your baby's image before he/she even develops the ability to hold their head upright is just wrong?

You complain that the paparazzi are constantly following you; that you can't go out to the supermarket without having your photo taken; that you feel like a prisoner of your fame and fortune. Yet, you sell the most private moments of your 'perfect' family to every gossip-loving mag hag in the free world! Since when did motherhood become an opportunity to make a cool mill? Has the new baby cover shot become a replacement for paid maternity leave?

Let's face it. Just because you are a celebrity, doesn't mean that motherhood won't be overwhelming. Sure you have nannies and drivers and trainers to help you 'bounce' back but fame will not save you from the baby blues, or even worse postnatal depression or feeling like the person you were before baby is lost forever. Seeing you pose on the magazine covers, so sweet and 'happy' with your 'motherhood is amazing'-isms makes my teeth hurt because any mother will tell you (and you probably know this already), motherhood changes you forever and it's not an easy ride. So forget about posing and preening for the camera. Save your baby's retinas from the blinding camera flashbulbs and just be a mother out of the spotlight. Your children will thank you for it some day.

Source: http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/40274/angelina-jolie-to-sell-pregnancy-confirmation

Jessica Alba's pregnancy 'not cool' according to young men

Jessica Alba is by far one of the most boring 'A-list' celebrities I have ever come across, and yet her pregnancy has been documented with reckless abandon, as I like to say, since the first moment she revealed her status 'with child'. Nevertheless, in the midst of the glowing admonitions surrounding her burgeoning belly (if I read another interview in which she says the same thing about her body changing or knowing the sex of the baby, I will scream) I was particularly interested to come across a video clip from MTV's TRL thanks to the folks at Defamer.

In this particular clip, Alba is doing another boring interview with the vapid hosts of the daytime video show and of course, as her pregnancy is by far the most popular topic of conversation, strangely enough (or perhaps not?) the male host asks Alba how her male fans have reacted to her pregnancy. Alba of course does her ridiculous 13 yr old girl giggle and says 'I don't know' with a surprisingly puzzled look, clearly missing the point of the question being that her male fans see her as a 'sex' symbol and obviously (*stereotypical cultural assumption*) being pregnant makes her anything but 'sexy'. To add insult to injury, the male host takes an informal poll of the drooling teenage boys sitting in the audience, asking if they think Alba's pregnancy is 'cool', as if their opinions mattered. The teen featured in the clip looks at Alba and says 'Not cool' as if being pregnant was a personal sleight against all of the young men like him who have fervently associated Alba with their every sexual fantasy.

You can watch the clip here: http://www.defamer.com.au/2008/01/male_fans_issue_resounding_not_cool_re_jessica_albas_pregnancy-2.html

I find this intriguing. For all intents and purposes, pregnancy is increasingly being 'sold' through the global media as a desirable and career-changing bodily state for celebrities. From Gwen Stefani to Katie Holmes, a female celebrity's stock will rise considerably in terms of her cultural power as soon as she breaks out 'with bump'. We have been inundated with naked, pregnant cover photos and centrefolds reinforcing the fact that pregnancy is no longer a 'condition' to be hidden; that pregnant women are walking sex and pregnant bodies are objects of desire. One only has to look to the massive market of pregnancy porn to see that flaunting one's fertility is hot. After all, as I discovered in an innocent Google search, Hustler's hardcore fetish magazine Taboo devotes at least a few issues a year to pregnant women in compromising..um..positions.

Yet, in this moment on TRL, the seemingly antiquated theoretical representation of pregnant bodies as abject and monstrous and inherently asexual creeps right back into our cultural dialogues. The message is clear: now that Alba is pregnant, she can no longer be 'sexy'. She has been tainted by a maternal body. She is the property of a man (with the very unfortunate name of 'Cash') and in spite of the market value of pregnancy for a young celebrity, one can see why it is now so pressing for postnatal celebs to get their bodies back into shape in order to keep their position on the sexual cultural mantlepiece. Women like Alba are seen as the epitome of heterosexual desire of which the approval of men, perhaps more so than women, shapes their popular appeal. If Alba can no longer attract young men to her movies, the message seems to be, she is no longer valuable no matter how talented she may be.

One to one midwifery changing Australian pregnancy

Just as the British government is admitting their maternity system is crumbling as thousands of midwives flee to greener pastures (e.g. Australia!) for better pay and working conditions, it seems Australia is finally doing good by their midwives and pregnant women in one of the largest trials of one-to-one midwifery care in Victoria.

It seems midwives have finally gotten the message across: when women are looked after by one midwife from the start to end of pregnancy and beyond, birth outcomes are better and the caesarean rate goes down and women are supported better postnatally. Midwives have a more manageable workload with more midwives on staff, women feel more secure having a familiar face when they give birth and there is less of a strain on the medicare system as less women are interfacing with obstetricians unless absolutely necessary. In the Victorian trial, 1,000 women are paired up with one midwife and hopefully the system of having midwives on call will be implemented more widely in Australia as it seems to work quite well in Europe and New Zealand. Now, if only the American government could be persuaded to think about the welfare of its pregnant women maybe the atrocious birth outcomes in the US would be better with a midwifery system as opposed to the heavy emphasis placed on obstetrics.

Source: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/onetoone-midwifery-aims-to-cut-complications/2008/01/28/1201369037407.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3261305.ece

Angelina Jolie's 'twins' spark rumours of twin pregnancy

According to Star magazine (a highly reliable source), Angelina Jolie is not only pregnant...but pregnant with twins...because Angelina's breasts apparently are a dead give away for pregnancy.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's creepy and weird that women have their bellies surveilled constantly for any hint of pregnancy in the first place. Now that bump watch has expanded to 'cleavage' watch, isn't this just another excuse for the paps to perv on celebrity lady lumps? I mean hasn't anyone heard of a push-up bra?







Source: http://www.starmagazine.com/celebrity_news_gossip/entertainment/13791?cid=RSS

Nicole Richie postbaby body

I've been wondering when someone would snap new mum Nicole Richie since she gave birth 2 weeks ago to her daughter Harlow. She's looking very svelte as expected...check her out:

http://x17online.com/celebrities/nicole_richie/nicoles_a_hot_momma-01262008.php

Too 'fat' to give birth in hospital

Melbourne mother, Lisa Graves, has been told she is too 'fat' to give birth at her local hospital. At 100kg, Lisa will have to pay for private medical care and travel far from her home to receive the prenatal care she needs.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23074323-661,00.html

Why the shaming of 'fat' mothers is wrong

I've talked to dozens of women in Melbourne, all of whom are pregnant, and all of whom told me they feared if they gained ‘too much’ weight or failed to ‘bounce back’, they would no longer be valued as human beings.

The story of Berwick mother, Lisa Graves, proves that their fears are justified. How is it that the paradigm of obstetrics has changed into one in which Australian pregnant women must be legitimately afraid that they will be rejected for prenatal care if their body weight deviates from medical guidelines?

The shaming of fat people, fat women in particular, is a cottage industry in a culture that thrives on size zero and reality shows like The Biggest Loser. Magazines such as Slimming and Health, Good Medicine, and Oxygen are all designed for the ‘health minded consumer’ (mostly women) wanting to lose weight. Whereas fatness was once a sign of leisure, beauty, and status, in Australia, obesity signifies laziness and poor health. Fatness is no longer just a weight problem; it’s like a full-body cancer.

Thinness is admired and important especially for women, defining what is ‘normal’. A toned and contained stomach is unequivocally positioned culturally as the only pathway to happiness. In a culture bursting with ‘skinny’ pregnant celebrities, it is no surprise that pregnant women are no longer immune to the battle of the bulge. In fact, medical concern over ‘fatness’ in pregnancy began in the 1930s in America and is arguably at its height today as ‘fat’ pregnant women like Lisa Graves are told that they will be unable to give birth in a hospital if their body size is outside of ‘normal’.

It’s no wonder that pregnant women are confused by the definition of ‘normal’. In one respect, pregnant women are encouraged to eat big in order to have a healthy baby. ‘Dieting’ during pregnancy is tantamount to child abuse in some cultures. How many times have you mentioned to a pregnant friend that she should have another piece of cake or an extra biscuit simply because she’s ‘eating for two’? After all, pregnancy is quite possibly the only time in a woman’s life when being ‘fat’ is acceptable.

However, doctors also encourage women to vigilantly survey their eating and not gain too much weight. Recent research has shown obesity to be a legitimate medical concern in pregnancy. Babies born to overweight women are more likely to be overweight by the age of three. Obese women have a greater risk of developing gestational diabetes and are more likely to have complicated births.

However, this 'anti-fat' mindset and the moral panic surrounding ‘fat’ pregnant women is ironic considering thin women requesting elective caesareans are heralded as 'smart' for avoiding the agony of childbirth but ‘fat’ women who want to give birth in a hospital are accused of failing to recognise the ‘risks’ associated with their body size. It has become painfully clear, especially if you are ‘fat’; birth is no longer seen as a ‘normal’ life process. Rather, it is an accident waiting to happen.

The arrogance that informs this contradiction is precisely why coming to the defense of 'fat' pregnant women is important and necessary. To turn pregnant women away from hospital and tell them to stop eating and lose weight or to just move on to another facility is as ridiculous as it is patronising. Reducing birth to a problem of body weight grossly oversimplifies a complicated physical process.

Now, it seems ‘fat’ women are worse than ‘teen mothers’ when it comes to winning the title for ‘most ill-equipped’ in managing their own pregnancies; it is these women who are seen as calculating, callous criminals who have little concern for the welfare of their unborn children simply by virtue of being ‘fat’. Lisa Graves should be applauded for being unashamed in her demand for the same compassionate treatment that thinner pregnant women are given. Is too much to ask that doctors stick to the Hippocratic Oath and accept that mothers in all shapes and sizes instead of continuing to demand perfection?