RESPONDING to this post on cultural attitudes toward pregnancy, Sarah writes:
I agree with Mr. McNeill that pregnancy ought to be accorded honor. However, I do not think that maternity bikinis are the way to recapture its lost honor.
In the 1950s, pregnant women wouldn’t dream of baring their midriffs or conducting nude photo shoots. They wore modest clothing, and generally eschewed the word “pregnant” in favor of the more ambiguous “expecting.” And yet, the world treated them with great deference and respect.
Today, on the other hand, one sees pregnant women exposing themselves on magazine covers, talk shows, or Facebook. And now the world treats them with absolute wretchedness. I am nearly at the nine-month mark, and I can attest to this. Nobody offers me any special consideration, such as a seat on the train or a chair at the church social; more distressingly, however, I continue to receive curses or even inappropriate advances from strange men, just as I did before my pregnancy.
I believe the two trends–lack of modesty and lack of respect–are related. Sacred vessels, such as the Ark of the Covenant or the chalice used to convey the Eucharist, are traditionally veiled. Likewise, the pregnant midriff should be kept covered because it protects an immortal soul and therefore deserves our reverence. If you tear away its veil, you reduce its function to the merely physical and mechanistic. And then why should a strange man respect a pregnant woman any more than he respects a pregnant dog?
— Comments —
Robin writes:
Sarah writes: “Today, on the other hand, one sees pregnant women exposing themselves on magazine covers, talk shows, or Facebook. And now the world treats them with absolute wretchedness. I am nearly at the nine-month mark, and I can attest to this. Nobody offers me any special consideration, such as a seat on the train or a chair at the church social; more distressingly, however, I continue to receive curses or even inappropriate advances from strange men, just as I did before my pregnancy.”
I have two children born almost eighteen years apart and I can attest to the absolute truth of her statement. When I was pregnant with my firstborn, the style of maternity clothing was chaste and modest. There were few choices that did not appear “matronly,” and for good cause! I would never have dreamed of choosing a maternity bikini, as a modest one-piece suit with cover-up was the rule, and I wore this privately. My navel belongs to my husband, thank you. Strangers and those acquainted with me alike opened doors, pulled up chairs and smiled upon greeting me after I began to show with my son.
Almost two decades later, and I was unable to find a single skirt or modest dress in Motherhood Maternity and chose instead to shop at Goodwill for my maternity wardrobe. This became the only choice after browsing online – I was shocked to see the “sexy” miniskirts and cleavage-revealing attire targeted at the expectant mother! Thankfully, the wardrobe itself was quite budget friendly this way.
In addition, gone were the smiling faces that greeted me in public spheres. The expression was one of utter disdain and disgust that someone would dare desire to bring another human being into the world “as overpopulated as it is.” A lone and precious female stranger verbally blessed me during my last pregnancy: as I was leaving the convenience store with my husband, belly swollen to thirty eight weeks, she grinned and mouthed, “You are beautiful!”
While I agree with Sarah’s assessment of the cause (immodesty coupled with lack of respect), I submit that the nasty spirit of Matriarchy, which would initially seek to “empower and glorify women,” has perpetrated this gross misrepresentation of the expectant mother. Matriarchy, which seeks to esteem woman above all others, has stolen the glory from the Creator. Matriarchy, which boasts “self” as god, worshipping the created more than the Creator, has torn the sacred from motherhood and reduced it to just another choice. Matriarchy, which bellows “Look at me and the fabulous choice I have made,” gives nary a thought for the great role that awaits Mother when her beautiful, idolatrous, exposed inverted navel is but a limp mass of postpartum flab and a precious new soul depends upon her wisdom and selflessness for his very survival.
It is a tale as old as the Garden.
Laura writes:
Excellent. Thank you.
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