In 2007, I wrote a blog post about the “Bump Watch” phenomenon, generally, discussing it in context of when the tabloids, public and media are wrong. In 2010, I wrote about how Jennifer Aniston is the most bump watched female celebrity even though she’s never been pregnant. At the same time, I was one of the early blogs that speculated in a post as to whether Jennifer Lopez was pregnant given her choice of dress during a concert. (I was right).
I am in that space so I get the fascination. And we here at Bellyitch have a long-standing ongoing “bump watch” tradition of following and covering celebrity preganancies.
I do, also, recognize that people hate the term “bump watch” as well as “bump” and “baby bump.” It’s cool. No scene.
However, I think writer Rachel Kramer Bussel was going a weeee bit too far in her recent Salon commentary where she called bump watch anti-feminist and suggested we, as a society, should ban bump watch.
*Clutch the pearls!*
Bussel’s piece was a bit rambling and read like a stream of consciousness rant but I understand her thesis: the incessant watching of and obsession over a woman’s pooch is offensive and reductive of her value to society outside of procreating.
In her post, Bussel bemoans how insulting it is when women are asked if they are pregnant when they may have just had one too many chicken wings the night before.
I can dig it, right. I support women’s liberation and rights. I am a woman after all and I do and have benefited from all the work that my feminist and womanist sisters have done over the years.
Notwithstanding all of that…. I still think Bussel goes overboard in her rant.
I dunno. Head over to Salon and have a read and let me know your thoughts.