Don’t get me wrong, despite how much faster my pregnancy stomach showed up, I’m feeling great, exercising regularly, juicing and eating lots of healthy-for-me-and-the-baby-foods. Yet despite all my healthiness and regular trips to the gym and my husband’s encouragement, I feel pregnant! I’m wearing pants without zippers and have fabric up to my chest. My stomach shows up to the party a good five minutes before I do.
So you can imagine my internal groan when I clicked on people.com (yes, I have a slight obsession with stars who really only exist on the screen of my computer and my cynicism that nothing I read on these sites is actually really real) to read the headlines, “Ian Ziereing: Why My Pregnant Wife Pole Dances.” What. the… *ginormous eyeroll*
So let me get this straight, I’m eating all healthy, making the treadmill my biotch, wearing cute maternity clothes (even wedges and heels no less) and now I’m expected to pole dance on top of that?! Yes, I realize that the caption wasn’t, “Why My Pregnant Wife Pole Dances; Why Don’t You?” But isn’t that implied? Couldn’t it also read, “Why I’m Luckier Than Your Husband.”
Does society really expect us pregnant women to now hoist our bodies up on poles while strategically positioning ourselves so we don’t bang our bulging stomachs against said pole? And have all the naked, photoshopped, pregnant celebrities on magazine covers tricked us into thinking that strippers would look better if only they were pregnant? Hmph. Call me old fashion but I’m going to give myself the rare break from feeling the pressure to be a super sexy and not “let myself go” and just be proud in my healthy, pregnant womanhood. Because, I’m bringing a healthy baby in the world that wouldn’t exist if it weren’t, partially, for me. And I think that’s a pretty good contribution to the world. I mean…I realize it’s not a the sexiest contribution…but I’m pretty sure it’s a lasting one. And I think it’s about time society placed value on women for other accomplishments besides who’s the sexiest.