Since Demi Moore’s 1991 Vanity Fair cover, in which she posed nude at 7 months pregnant, nude maternity photos have become increasingly popular and have even become a booming sector in the photography industry. Today we ask if these photos really are the best way to celebrate pregnancy or if they have negatively impacted the pregnancy experience?
When Demi Moore’s cover was first released some people called it obscene and grotesque and several supermarket chains even refused to stock it. Now magazine covers frequently feature pregnant celebrities in the buff (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Nia Long to name a few) and all supermarket chains stock these magazines. Arguably, Demi Moore’s photo can be championed for making the figure of a pregnant woman beautiful and no longer something to hide behind baggy clothes for nine months. However, in 2006 an ad for Britney Spears’ posing pregnant and nude on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar was also banned in a Tokyo metro station for being “over stimulating” for public viewing. Such a reaction suggests we have now gone to another extreme by over-sexualising the image of a pregnant woman.
Moreover, it could be argued that these nude pregnancy portraits which once celebrated pregnancy have now become a commercial entity as magazines pay celebrities thousands, even millions, to pose nude on their covers. In fact, this year Vivara, a Brazilian jewelry company, took advantage of Alessandra Ambrosio’s pregnancy to create an ad campaign that features her nude and heavily pregnant. Is it ok that we now use the miracle of child bearing to sell products or have we yet again let money destroy the sanctity of one of life’s greatest gifts?
Would you ever pose nude to celebrate your pregnancy?
On the other hand, celebrities, such as Milla Jovovich and Monica Bellucci, have used their nude pregnancy figures to bring attention to charities and social issues respectively, that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Belluci’s campaign against anti-sperm donor laws in Italy is of particular note. It cannot be denied that using pregnancy to create a better world and a brighter future for our children only increases the greatness of this incredible experience.
Every magazine cover is exquisite and the beauty of those celeb mums-to-be cannot be denied, even without the photoshopping. Some mothers say this is what has given them the confidence to go out and have their bumps photographed too so that they can celebrate their pregnancy and their curvier figures. However, others say it only makes them feel more insecure about their bloated tummies and other frustrating pregnancy symptoms, because they just don’t look like those women on the cover of national magazines.
How about you? Are you inspired by these images? Do you think nude portraits are the perfect way to document and celebrate your pregnancy? Have you posed for one before? We at the-pregnancy.net want to know what you think.
By the way ladies, we are sure you look amazing pregnant so don’t feel insecure about your body for any reason, because there really is no greater gift than pregnancy and childbirth.