If you thought pregnancy and birth couldn't be commodified any more...
Apparently, in the US (read: New York) “push presents” — have become standard and expected after the birth of a child as a reward for a 'job well done' usually in the form of expensive jewelry. According to the
Today show, certain department stores in New York actually have push present registries so cashed up fathers can buy their wives some post-birth bling. High-end jeweler
Fortunoff has an entire range of pieces made specifically for the 'new mum'.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, considering women have to carry around another human for 9 months and then squeeze it out, a little recognition doesn't seem so bad. However, if you watch the video of the segment on the link below, some women 'expect' to have jewelry or some expensive item for a 'job well done' after they give birth and this just reeks of unnecessary middle-class materialism. What if a woman's 'natural' birth doesn't go to plan? If she has a caesarean does that mean she only gets to have 1 carat diamond necklace instead of the 3 carat diamond ring? Is a woman's worth contingent upon her ability to have a 'good' birth?
Give me a break.
Source:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21101071/
Looks like Nicole Kidman is getting a 'push' present, you know, the new, very consumerist version of a very old American ritual in which women get gifts for giving birth.
