Not at all. I do find it a little strange that a woman would magically transform into someone who should be photographed nude when she wasn’t that person nine months ago. Nor will she most likely be taking nude photos of herself for the living room wall nine months after the childbirth. There’s only this narrow window when she’s suddenly interested is showing that she’s “beautiful, sexy, happy” and that’s only when she can add “…and pregnant” to it.
I don’t care much one way or the other but it seems strange is all.
I think many women really are more beautiful, sexier, and happier while pregnant. At least on the good days. You’ve heard of the “glow”? Hormones can do amazing things.
Well, exactly. I agree with you, but I’ve also heard of people with this weird cognitive dissonance that women stop being sexy as soon as they get pregnant, because (I guess?) OMG! You can’t think of a MOM that way!! Apparently the idea that a woman can be simultaneously sexual AND a mom is relatively new.
(I say “heard of” because of the few friends I have who have kids, I wasn’t in geographical proximity when they were pregnant, so the whole business of pregnancy and its cultural impact is not something I have a lot of direct experience with.)
It is very mainstream among the upper middle class.
I find it disturbing not because of the "look at meeeee"ness of it but because I know a lot of people who have suffered miscarriages. I would feel like I was/like they are jinxing the whole pregnancy in having a big photo shoot. YMMV of course.
I thought we were talking about the middle class and upper-middle class ladies who did this? I don’t know what the deal would be for, say, Demi Moore’s kids.
I don’t think mom ‘shouldn’t’ do it, she can do whatever she wants. I just find it weird is all, and I can’t even imagine what I would have thought if I had gone over to a friends house in high school and seen photos like that up on the wall. And I don’t have anything against moms having a life or personhood. There is quite a lot of middle ground between ‘your mom is only good for popping out babies’ and ‘your mom was a sexy, sexy love goddess and we’re going to put up naked pictures of her’.
Did you see where I mentioned that we had a cabin at a nudist camp? I’ve seen my mom and dad naked, they were solidly middle class and I’m a reasonably normal person. I have no idea where this idea that seeing a relative naked will warp you.
They’re usually done late late in pregnancy, when the chance of miscarriage has decreased (but not completely).
Hey, I forgot two people who I’ve known did shoots!
One was my own SIL and brother. In their case, she was covered in some sort of flowing skirt with a small shirt and open belly, at the beach. She has some pictures in their living room, next to their wedding pictures and their family pictures. Her being pregnant (and being able to take it to almost-term, at the time) was a milestone for her and her husband (my brother). She had already miscarried before.
My guess is that, for people like my SIL, they treat it as another milestone (see the wedding pictures, the official family pictures, the professionally done newborn baby pictures) in their lives, deserving as much attention.
The other person is my SO’s sister. Her shoots were not professional (mostly just taken by her friends while she posed in various clothes). She did miscarry during her second trimester. And you know what? She collected many of those pictures and put them in their own album, as a memory of what did not happen. They are bittersweet.
Ahh I see. I’d still be anxious about a stillborn/SIDS thing. The ones I’ve seen have been like at the 4-5 month mark. It would seem a lot more reasonable at the 8 month mark.
I, not too long ago, was handed off my baby book. I don’t think I’d have been delighted by such a picture. It’s got nothing to do with me, really. I wasn’t around yet. It’s meaningful, if it’s meaningful at all, to my parents.
There was a picture of me nursing; I’m fine with that. That’s me, and that’s meaningful to me.
I didn’t have anyone around to take pictures of me when I was pregnant. I wish I had, because I will never look like that again. Even if I’d had subsequent kids, I’d never look quite the same. It’s nine really important months of my life where I looked significantly different to all the other months of my life and I have no record of it.
Maybe you being pregnant isn’t as interesting to those around you as it is to you, but the same goes for your pictures of you doing almost anything. If all of our Facebook photos have to be of us doing truly momentous things then hardly any of us would have any photos on there at all.
They’re never actually naked, anyway. Not the few I’ve seen. They’re all about the bump and the happiness.
I’ve seen my mom and dad naked plenty, too. Nudity was nowhere near verboten in our house. I still think there’s a difference between seeing them naked and having photos of them naked up around the house.
In any case, you said “what if your mother was a famous actress who had done any number of nude scenes?”, which really doesn’t apply to most middle class people. Did that apply to your mother?
I have suggestive photos of me taken by photographer friends while I was small and not pregnant, but I’d never do the baby bump thing. Why remind the world of what went in and what is coming out of my vagina?!
One, there are no miscarriages after 20 weeks. Past that point is classified as a stillbirth.
Two, by that logic you wouldn’t even take baby pictures until after the first year. You don’t lessen the potential grief of losing a baby by acting like it’s going to happen, and you don’t get through that grief by pretending the pregnancy/child never happened. I have 3 close friends that have had a stillborn child. All treasure the pictures they have of their children, and I suspect all would be glad to have pictures of themselves pregnant.
Actually I was thinking he might think it was cool to see where he lived for 9.5 months. I don’t actually have a picture of my mom’s pregnant belly, but I don’t think I would be squicked out if I did. It’s just a tummy.
It is not as if famous people are any different than anyone else - they have children, grandchildren and even grandchildren. With the Internet, their children and their friends have undoubtedly seen stills from any nude scenes.
I don’t understand why you claim there is any difference between famous people and non-famous people regarding nudity. Please clarify why there should be a distinction.
I agree with you, but I’ve also heard of people with this weird cognitive dissonance that women stop being sexy as soon as they get pregnant, because (I guess?) OMG! You can’t think of a MOM that way!! Apparently the idea that a woman can be simultaneously sexual AND a mom is relatively new.
I’ve seen my mom and dad naked plenty, too. Nudity was nowhere near verboten in our house. I still think there’s a difference between seeing them naked and having photos of them naked up around the house.
