A Weighty Issue
This might be the post that gets me killed.
I started this as "blog therapy," a way for me to vent, pontificate, document, and generally worry about my impending fatherhood. I can't shy away from my own thoughts.
It became apparent from the beginning that formerly taboo topics were suddenly up for discussion. I'm about to crash through the final taboo: My lovely, expectant wife, is starting to show.
Watching her trying to squeeze into work clothes that, just three months ago, she wore loosely, it was hard not to notice.
For men, it's easy to ignore (or be ignorant of) a woman's dramatic hormonal changes. Though my wife began going to bed early, she would always choose bed over an extra half-hour of television. I used to laugh when she would go to the bathroom before bed, then go back to the bathroom less than thirty minutes later: now, that happens four or five times before she finally goes to sleep.
But when she starts to show, even the most callous man can no longer ignore. And when I noticed, my first thoughts weren't about how this would affect me (which is rare), but were about her - and all pregnant women.
For many American women, from the moment puberty kicks in, body image and weight issues are paramount. Nearly 5% of all women in this country have a serious eating disorder, such as bulemia or anorexia. How does Life reward these rice cake-eating, treadmill-jogging, water bottle-toting women when they get pregnant? By gaining weight.
On the one hand, I imagine that pregnancy can be liberating, to a degree. No longer (or at least for nine months) do you have to worry or obsess about what others think of your body: You are pregnant, and that is the trump card.
But that hand is the abstract hand. The one that doesn't have to worry about how that top button is going to close or if the zipper is going to make it all the way to the top.
In reality, at least for the next few weeks, my wife is caught between squeezing into her current clothes, buying some clothes a size up, or giving in to wearing maternity clothes for the next seven months.
I can't imagine that the "liberating benefits" of being pregnant amounted to a hill of beans when she realized that.
I started this as "blog therapy," a way for me to vent, pontificate, document, and generally worry about my impending fatherhood. I can't shy away from my own thoughts.
It became apparent from the beginning that formerly taboo topics were suddenly up for discussion. I'm about to crash through the final taboo: My lovely, expectant wife, is starting to show.
Watching her trying to squeeze into work clothes that, just three months ago, she wore loosely, it was hard not to notice.
For men, it's easy to ignore (or be ignorant of) a woman's dramatic hormonal changes. Though my wife began going to bed early, she would always choose bed over an extra half-hour of television. I used to laugh when she would go to the bathroom before bed, then go back to the bathroom less than thirty minutes later: now, that happens four or five times before she finally goes to sleep.
But when she starts to show, even the most callous man can no longer ignore. And when I noticed, my first thoughts weren't about how this would affect me (which is rare), but were about her - and all pregnant women.
For many American women, from the moment puberty kicks in, body image and weight issues are paramount. Nearly 5% of all women in this country have a serious eating disorder, such as bulemia or anorexia. How does Life reward these rice cake-eating, treadmill-jogging, water bottle-toting women when they get pregnant? By gaining weight.
On the one hand, I imagine that pregnancy can be liberating, to a degree. No longer (or at least for nine months) do you have to worry or obsess about what others think of your body: You are pregnant, and that is the trump card.
But that hand is the abstract hand. The one that doesn't have to worry about how that top button is going to close or if the zipper is going to make it all the way to the top.
In reality, at least for the next few weeks, my wife is caught between squeezing into her current clothes, buying some clothes a size up, or giving in to wearing maternity clothes for the next seven months.
I can't imagine that the "liberating benefits" of being pregnant amounted to a hill of beans when she realized that.
Labels: My Lovely Wife, Taboo
Delivered by SteveJeltzFan. Born on 2/12/2007 09:57:00 PM PERMALINK
1 Comments:
Betweening is tough no matter what the subject, growing your hair long, growing a beard, changing jobs. My wife avoided the maternity pants during her first pregnancy, but one the second child she went right to them, she was much more comfortable. And although vanity is important, the comfort especially as she gets along will totally outweigh it
Post a Comment
<< Home