NoTORIous Spelling looking a little lean

Totally Tori is back in the news again, apparently slamming anorexia allegations given her increasingly shrinking body. Only 9 months since giving birth to her second child, Tori is beating back rumours from Star magazine that claim she is only 98 pounds. Her rep says she is definitely not that thin.

Read more: Tori slams anorexic accuasations

Nicole Kidman for Vogue

Well, here it is..the long awaited Nicole Kidman pregnancy cover for the July edition of American Vogue. I wonder when she took the photo because she does not look very pregnant!

Here is a tidbit from the interview:

“When I first saw the baby on the ultrasound, I started crying. I didn’t think I’d get to experience that in my lifetime. I like the unpredictable nature of it. To feel life growing with you is something very, very special, and I’m going to embrace that completely. I don’t believe in flittering around the edges of things. You’re either going to walk through life and experience it fully or you’re going to be a voyeur. And I’m not a voyeur.”

You can read the full article here:
http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/061708/page2.html



Source: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/06/17/nicole-kidman-vogue-july-2008/

Another pregnant cover

More rumours abound.. Nicole Kidman set to appear on the cover of Vogue preggers in July?

Source: http://blogs.fashionweekdaily.com/?p=4326

Minnie Driver: eating is good

As I wrote previously about Halle Berry and Milla Jovovich, many female celebrities clearly have spent many, many years starving themselves for their careers and pregnancy is perhaps the one time in their adult lives when they can eat.

Five months pregnant, Minnie Driver now is saying exactly the same thing:

"It's great just to be able to eat. No guilt! No guilt about anything!"

If only celebrity women could be this confident with food when they weren't pregnant....

Source: http://fametastic.co.uk/archive/20080328/10436/minnie-driver-enjoying-freedom-to-eat-during-pregnancy/

Britney Spears is not a circus side show

After reading the 85,000th story about Britney Spears and her highly marketable mental breakdown, one wonders when the point comes that we can say enough is enough. The media has taken a perverse delight in exposing this young woman and her many failings which, so many have argued, she has brought on herself.

I have been fascinated by Britney for as long as I can remember, so much so, she has been the subject of my own academic research in the past few years. Yet, I am deeply saddened that this young woman has suddenly ceased to be a human in the eyes of the public. Sure, we all have had a bit of a laugh at her expense the countless times she appeared walking down the street without shoes, for attempting to wear some of the most heinous outfits imaginable with a straight face, and for marrying the man we now know as K-Fed. We've judged her for what some reckon is tantamount to 'child abuse'; driving with her son on her lap, nearly dropping a baby to save a drink, for perpetually leaving her young boys with nannies to go out and party. Now we laugh because she has been 'committed', her fortune in the hands of her sociopathic 'parents', and her children taken away from her.

We seem to forget about all of the moments when Britney was sparkling; for all of the moments that made her the most famous figure in the media world. Her first video clip as a naughty school girl, naked and pregnant on the cover of Bazaar, busting out in little more than an invisible 'skin' body suit for the MTV music awards with a python hanging around her neck, and for managing to be the girlfriend to Justin Timberlake when both of them were the toast of the town. These were the times when Britney was on top of the world and now it seems, everyone is waiting with bated breath to see our Britney fall flat on her face.

Whereas so many young people aspire to fame and fortune, the Britney saga only exposes the cold reality of celebrity-dom; that there is such a thing as being too famous. Britney, like other celebrities, need the paparazzi to keep them famous, but no one asks for constant surveillance. The 'Britney Economy', the 250 million dollar industry devoted to capturing every waking moment of her life, is the reason why Britney will never be left alone. Yet, when a paparazzi caravan the length of a football field is trailing her ambulance on the way to the psych ward, I think it's time to leave Britney to suffer out of the spotlight.

If, as a number of inside 'sources' claim, our Britney is on suicide watch, it will be no surprise if the relentless media presence in her life does indeed kill her. According to Beverly Hills psychotherapist, Rebecca Roy, "Not only do [celebrity] women have to deal with an impossibly high body image standard, but they are savagely attacked when they don't meet expectations on that [mental health] front." It is no wonder that stars like Britney or Amy Winehouse or even Kate Moss were aggressively attacked following allegations of drug abuse or psychiatric crisis that certain male celebrities seem to walk away from with an uncomfortable ease. When women 'fail', they fall hard and in front of a crowd of millions.

Whereas Owen Wilson was left to privately recover after his shock suicide attempt, Britney Spears has been nailed up on the proverbial cross and we are all here to watch her bleed.

Sources: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3285507.ece
http://jezebel.com/351565/are-women-with-issues-treated-as-sensitively-as-men

Sabrina the Teenage Witch: knocked up and naked

And yet again, another celebrity shamelessly jumps on the naked and pregnant bandwagon. It is unclear why Melissa Joan Hart has done this photo shoot and I wasn't able to find any info about whether this will appear in a magazine..but apparently, she's in a race with Christina to see who can sex up pregnancy the best.

Celebrity yummy mummies

Hmm...Isn't this a coincidence? Sounds alot like my research which has been heavily publicised in three countries......

WOMEN are increasingly concerned about their shape and weight during pregnancy, partly due to the media's focus on celebrity yummy mummies, experts say. Psychologist Beth Shelton from Swinburne University said there seems to be “strong, unwritten social rules” about how much weight is acceptable to gain, where that weight goes and how long it takes to lose it after the baby is born.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22874688-1702,00.html

This particular researcher only followed 13 women (which they don't mention in any of the articles)....I did more than 200 interviews with 40 women.

*Sigh*

The baby is out of the bag (or shall I say Cavalli?)

J.Lo is pregnant. We knew this already.

But fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has actually uttered the words to People:

"Well Jennifer Lopez, at this moment, she requests something very special because she is waiting for the baby. It is so complicated because every week she is getting bigger."

What is it with fashion designers spilling the beans? Someone at Escada gave up the ghost when Naomi Watts wore a yellow dress o that Oscars that 'set off her most precious asset' and now J.Lo has been outed as well.

Perhaps celebs should save their cash and start shopping at Target to avoid the spread of their baby secrets through the loose lipped ingenues of high fashion.

Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20155838,00.html

More, more, more Milla J: are cravings fact or fiction?

It's funny how the media is so fickle in choosing which celebrity preggo to pick on from one week to the next. It was only a few weeks ago that our dear Milla J fessed up to stuffing her face resulting in the 70+ pounds she has packed on with little more than a month left to go before her first baby is born. We haven't heard any baby mammoth comments about her increasing proportions until today.

Milla J 'confesses' to Britain's glossy Grazia that she has a new relationship with food in light of her decades long stint as a stick figure model in which coffee, cigarettes, and alcohol were the building blocks of her food pyramid. Of a recent stay in Paris, Milla says,

"My friend and I went round Saint Sulpice cemetery, where French royalty are buried. On the way back, I said to her, 'Let's eat like kings!' I was craving bone marrow one day, and I scoured the whole of Paris searching for the leg of a cow. When I finally found what I was looking for, I cut it in half, digging out the yellowish substance, slathering it all over bread."

Of her modeling diet, she notes:

"Before I got pregnant, I really didn't care about food. I saw it as fuel, not something to sit down and enjoy. As an actress and model, I lived on cigarettes and coffee, and jet-lag tended to kill off any appetite I had.

And now that she's pregnant, oh how the tide has turned:

"My diet for most of this year has been - for breakfast, four eggs with bacon, toast and butter, if I was at home. Then if I was at a diner, I'd have a Mexican omelette, a stack of pancakes and strawberry milkshake.

"I'd stuff myself with cookies all morning - whatever was in the cupboard really - then I'd have a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for dessert. And I once ate two whole packs of coffee cake in one sitting!"

Perhaps a bit excessive but isn't it refreshing to read about a celebrity preggo that actually eats and isn't ashamed to say it?

It actually doesn't surprise me that Milla J is eating enough for a small army. In my own work on pregnancy cravings, I argue that whereas women are usually condemned for eating ‘junk’ food when they are not pregnant, pregnant women are often absolved of resposibility for their ‘bad’ eating behavior because they are ‘eating for two’ and are allowed to ‘give in’ or indulge their cravings. Milla's weight gain is evidence that she is allowing herself to actually establish a pleasure-driven relationship with ‘comfort’ foods. Whereas she might not have eaten junk food (or any food at all) pre-pregnancy because of its association with weight gain and given her career as an incredibly succesful model/actress, in pregnancy, the 'inevitable' weight gain liberates her food choices.

Before you start shaking your head, I'm not discounting that there are no actual physiological cravings for food in pregnancy. There's plenty of research to support that (hello, pica?!). I'm highlighting that Milla J is totally aware of her eating behaviour and is attuned to her eating in a way that cultural discourses suggest that pregnant women indulge their ‘cravings’ unreflectively or passively. She knows full well why she indulges her ‘cravings’ in pregnancy and has already said that her latitude in eating is justified because, ultimately, her weight gain in pregnancy absolves her, within reason and for a limited time, of the slim body ideal most women of the world aspire to achieve throughout their lifetime. Pregnancy is really the only time in her life (or in the life of any woman, for that matter) when she can be 'fat' and happy. Pretty sad realisation, isn't it?

Great article in The Guardian on Milla's weight gain and celeb pregnancy:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2193507,00.html

Jaime Pressly and Mel B: Bikini bodies

Jaime Pressly: gained 14kg, lost 14kg 5mths since birth

How she did it: intense 7 day detox diet inluding 3 days of cabbage soup to bring weight fown to 57kg

Hmm. That sounds healthy!

She also hit the gym for 3hr cardio sessions, 5 days per week only days after the birth.

Pressly says, 'I needed to get back to my shape. I had a closet full of jeans I couldn't wear'.

Mel B: gained about 15kg, lost it all with plastic surgery

One months postbaby, Mel B enlisted the services of a plastic surgeon to have a third breast job, tummy tuck, liposuction and Botox as a result of her commitment to be on the American version of Dancing With the Stars

Mel B is now trying to lose 15kg through diet and exercise.

Bikini bodies after baby

Oh man. It has been a long time since I've actually purchased a tabloid, but when I saw this week's NW I couldn't resist. The topic?

Bikini bodies after baby

Revealed: how Hollywood mums get back in shape so fast

So of course, I pounced and scanned the article for your viewing pleasure. Not only does the article have some amazing pictures, but this is the first time I've seen a magazine provide a sort of inventory as to how much weight each celebrity gained, number of months since birth and weight loss since birth. The pictures are clearly not enough of a 'ranking' system in themselves, the numbers are meant to tell the 'real' story.

Geri Halliwell (gained 15kg, lost 18kg since birth)

How she lost the weight: personal trainer using boot-camp style fitness program

According to a friend, 'Her stomach's so flat, it's hard to believe she's ever given birth'

Source: NW, 15 Oct 2007, 20-7

Marcia Cross back in fine form

Apparently, Marcia Cross is back into fighting form according to Sky News. They have even gone so far as snapping her postbaby belly in all of its flat glory to prove their point, that indeed, six months since she gave birth to twins, her body has returned to tight and trim.

Additionally, there is also another cringe worthy but equally as entrancing slideshow featuring celebs and their rapid postbaby body transformations... http://showbiz.sky.com/showbiz/picture_gallery/0,,50001-1174702,00.html

Source: http://showbiz.sky.com/showbiz/article/0,,50001-1277736,00.html

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

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

Myleene Klass does a 'Demi' for Glamour

If you are pregnant and a celebrity (even a C grade reality contestant), you haven't made it until you've posed naked and pregnant on a magazine cover....

"Miss Klass, 29, who was a swimwear-clad contestant on I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!, appears naked save an engagement ring and gold butterfly-design necklace on the cover of the latest edition of Glamour magazine".

Full article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=465242&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

Kristy Swanson: the latest of the celebrity mum brigade in the race to lose baby weight

Kristy Swanson, who rose to fame after Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has been speaking out alot lately about her battle against the bulge since the birth of her son in May. She is the new spokesperson for Medifast to lose about 35 pounds (approx 16kg).

"I already needed to lose about fifteen pounds before I had my baby so I want to not only lose the baby weight but also a bit of extra weight I already had before I got pregnant," says Swanson.

"My weight has always fluctuated through the years and I've tried many different ways to lose it but I've always gained it back before."

I found an interesting interview from the show Showbiz Tonight on CNN where she talks about getting cast on Criminal Intent to portray Anna Nicole Smith only four weeks after the birth and how her baby weight played a role in her getting the job:

She says: "Well, the phone call came in and my agent said that Criminal Intent called and said, we know Kristy just had a baby, but how does she look, because that`s how Hollywood is. They want to know is she skinny or is she fat right now".

"It`s Hollywood. He says, look, she had a baby. She`s a little chunky right now. So they said, OK, you know what, this is going to work just fine, because the character just had a baby. So it`s going to be perfect. We want her to come do the show. Will she come do it, even though she just had the C-section and just gave birth? Would she come to New York for us?"

Read full interview: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/07/sbt.01.html

Also found another really interesting interview about celebrity pregnancy featuring Rebecca Odes, author of the new 'hip' pregnancy book, From the Hips as well as Kristy Swanson:

Note: AJ Hammer is the host

Jill Dobson is from Star Magazine

Felicia Stoler, host 'Honey, we're killing the kids'

HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. You know, there`s been a baby boom in Hollywood lately, and everywhere you turn, celebrity moms have bounced back to their pre-pregnancy weights in record time. So what is going on here? How do celebrities who have babies whittle away the pounds so quickly and what kind of message is that sending to regular women out there? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates.

REBECCA ODES, AUTHOR, "FROM THE HIPS": We live in a celebrity- obsessed culture. And the idea of celebrity pregnancy and motherhood has suddenly become hot.

HAMMER: Hot indeed. Just look at the red carpet moments that some celebrities have become famous for. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, it`s not because of the dress they were wearing, but how good they looked in it so soon after having a baby, like super model Heidi Klum, who`s red carpet moments sizzled right after the last two of her three pregnancies.

FELICIA STOLER, HOST, "HONEY WE`RE KILLING THE KIDS": When Heidi Klum was on the red carpet after having her baby, she looked great.

HAMMER: So great, Heidi made it seem as if losing the baby weight was a piece of cake. In this picture, taken at the Golden Globes, just two months, that`s eight weeks, after the birth of her third child, Heidi doesn`t even look like she`s just had a baby. But getting back her bodacious body after child birth isn`t something new for the super model. Klum strutted herself down a different red carpet even more quickly after she delivered her second bundle of joy.

DOBSON: Just seven weeks after it was born, she walked the runway for Victoria`s Secret in lingerie and looked amazing.

HAMMER: Judge for yourself. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has the video, and it`s no secret, Klum shed the pounds fast. But Klum isn`t the only star whose body bounced back quicker than her baby could say ga ga. In fact, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can show you these pictures of Angelina Jolie, who many say looks even thinner than before she had baby Shiloh.

DOBSON: Angelina Jolie, after giving birth to baby Shiloh, actually looks thinner than ever before. And, of course, she`s chasing around four kids. She`s busy with her career and her world traveling.

HAMMER: And traveling the world with fiance Tom Cruise, new mommy Katie Holmes shed all her baby weight in just seven months, just in time for her big day, the celebrity wedding of the century.

DOBSON: Katie Holmes had one of the biggest celebrity weddings ever exactly seven months after giving birth to baby Suri. So she had real motivation. She knew she was going to be wearing that wedding dress in front of the whole world.

HAMMER: Just seven months for Katie, just seven weeks for Heidi. It`s got us asking, are celebrities who lose baby weight this quickly sending a bad message to regular women out there? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT went right to nutrition expert Felicia Stoler.

STOLER: When people see celebrities lose weight very quickly, it`s very difficult for them to comprehend that they could even lose weight that quickly. It`s so unrealistic for most people to lose weight that fast after pregnancy.

HAMMER: So what`s the secret? Well, let`s face it, celebrities have a team of people who are ready, willing and able to whip them right back into shape.

STOLER: They have trainers. They have people cooking for them. There`s probably a nanny and a baby nurse taking care of the kids. So they can get some good rest that most of us don`t have the luxury to do.

HAMMER: Celebrities sure do live lives of luxury, but they also need to work to support those lives. So when the casting call comes, they need to be ready.

DOBSON: Part of the reason celebrities lose the weight so quickly is because they really want to send a message to all of Hollywood that they`re ready to get back to work.

HAMMER: But there are stars like Jennifer Garner, who say making play time with the baby she had with hubby Ben Aflack is just as important as looking good. Garner tells "In Style" magazine she was in no rush to shed the baby weight saying, quote, "You`re supposed to look a certain way when you`re a celebrity. But I want to take care of my baby. And those two things don`t mesh very well." And once in a while, Hollywood stars and their baby weight do mesh, when the part calls for it. Actress Kristy Swanson tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT her agent called her soon after she delivered her baby boy to say hey, don`t lose all that baby weight so quickly, because there`s this part.

KRISTY SWANSON, ACTRESS: Well, the phone call came in and my agent said that "Criminal Intent" called and said, we know Kristy just had a baby. How does she look. You know, because that`s how Hollywood is.

HAMMER: And the "Law and Order" episode Kristy was cast for, playing the part of the late Anna Nicole Smith soon after she gave birth to her own baby, Dannielynn.

SWANSON: But this is Ava`s big TV debut. Let her shine.

HAMMER: Kristy tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that she is determined to shed the weight, but she`ll do it at a healthy pace.

SWANSON: It`s sort of my job to stay in shape. But right now, I have the excuse that I just had a baby. So --

HAMMER: Kristy, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, having a baby is good enough reason for gaining weight. And if somebody gives you lip about not shedding it fast enough, you can use what nutrition expert Felicia Stoler says is a healthy guideline for taking the baby weight off.

STOLER: It takes nine to ten months to put on all that weight. It should take about that amount of time to take it all off afterwards.

HAMMER: Because, after all, having a baby is hard work. And while losing the baby weight is also hard, doing it right is the right way to go.

Read full interview: http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/16/sbt.01.html

The truth comes out: Liv Tyler wants plastic surgery

Remember my post a few weeks back about Liv Tyler? http://babybumpproject.blogspot.com/2007/06/liv-tyler-on-losing-baby-weight.html

Yeah, I was all gushy about how fantastic she is for being as level headed as a celebrity mum can be about losing baby weight and living up to cultural expectations of slenderness. WELL! I just came across this little beauty in Allure magazine and it appears that Liv has been spinning various stories about her weight loss post birth, the most recent of which she admits to working out like a maniac and wanting plastic surgery!

Not that there's anything wrong with that (who am I to judge?)...but why do celebrities feel the need to lie and say they 1) don't exercise at all 2) only do Pilates or 3) don't care about the extra weight. Can we all please just be honest and admit that losing weight post-baby is really hard? And yes, if you're an actress and your body is your bread and butter, you have to work even harder.

On plastic surgery:

"I’m definitely going to have some, I’m sure. Especially when you see what happens to your body after you have a baby.”

On the baby weight:

“I was trying to get back into shape, so I went to the gym every day, sometimes twice a day.”

On looking good in Hollywood:

“I have to make a living. I guess I could sell my house and go live a really simple life in a trailer somewhere.”

Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20043064,00.html

Give the girl a break!

This morning I found no less than 152 (literally) articles devoted to the possible existence of a burgeoning TomKat babybump. Apparently a 'cunning attempt' to hide her blooming belly whilst watching a soccer match tipped off the paparrazzi that the Dawson's Creek sweetheart is baking another baby...that is until this morning as pictures from the Packer wedding surfaced showing an extraordinarily stunning Holmes frolicking in the ocean with little Suri in a black bathing suit that says French Riviera glamour more than knocked up. No, ladies and gentleman, Katie Holmes is not pregnant.

And why do we care so much if she is?

As a culture that pays fawning tribute to celebrities merely on the basis that they are breathing, we are desperate for images of the fattest, the thinnest, the most drug addicted or divorced. Whereas a celebrity marriage story is over before you can say ‘pre-nup’, pregnancy provides us with a 40 week fix like a hit of Hollywood heroin straight into the vein. Needless to say, I'm over it.

I can't help but wonder, since when did wearing a loose top become an invitation into a woman's womb?

100th posting: what lies beneath

Welcome to my 100th post! I can barely believe that just over one year ago I started my interviews with pregnant women from all walks of life in Melbourne and around Australia for The Baby Bump Project. Now, more than 200 interviews later, I'm in the process of writing up my PhD research and embarking on the journey to make The Baby Bump Project into a book.

When I started this research, I had no idea how my life would change as complete strangers invited me into the most intimate moments of their lives, sharing their stories of bringing forth new life. And new life there is. 40 new babies born to 40 remarkable women. I can't thank you enough. As I have spent countless hours transcribing hundreds of hours of interviews from the shockingly horrible first few halting conversations to the interviews that are so arresting the hairs on my forearm stand on end, I can honestly say that I have become a 'listener'. I've always been more of a 'listener' than someone always waiting to talk, however, this project has taught be to become a real listener.

Although my pregnant women (and I call them 'my pregnant women' as a term of endearment) each have a unique bodily history to share (before, during and after pregnancy), I have been able to recognise alot of myself in the stories I've heard, not because I've had the experience of being a mother, but because as women (and I apologise for universalising the 'sisterhood') we all to some degree have a particular (and slightly peculiar) obsession with our stomachs.

Women who have the power to love their bodies in all of their feminine glory are blessed with a confidence that many women in this world never allow themselves to feel. As Eve Ensler writes in The Good Body, 'the tools of my self-victimisation have been made readily available'. The magazines and the blonde, flat stomach-ed ideal seems to always be waiting at eye-level in the supermarket or on the television. The desire for the perfect body in and out of motherhood is an arresting, unsettling and unachievable proposition in our world that is so preoccuppied with flab, diet books, the obesity 'crisis', and celebrity. I can't help but wonder, will women forever be prisoners of their bodies (self-imposed or otherwise), distracting our intelligence with daily surveillance of slight imperfection, no matter how much exercise, cosmetic surgery, or dieting we may punish ourselves with?

As women, we are in a constant dialogue with our stomachs. In pregnancy, bellies take on a new meaning; I am yet to meet one woman who was not both awed and frightened of the transformation of her stomach in pregnancy.

Our stomachs are our most serious committed relationship. A woman's pregnant belly protrudes through her clothes, sometimes her confidence, and even her ability to be a little invisible sometimes.

Yet, on the other hand, women have never felt so attached to their stomachs in the same way they do when they are pregnant. The jab of a tiny foot in the small hours of the morning is worth a thousand battles looking sideways in the mirror at that little pouch of skin that sits on the top of your waistband.

I have learned from my interviews that, despite the Hollywood nuclear reactor pumping out standardised images of motherhood, in pregnancy, women do not have to be afraid of their fullness or afraid to be seen. I think to myself, why do we spend so long trying to get rid of the best part about us? Our soft bellies are the carriers of the future.

Now that should make some of us take our stomachs seriously.