Nudity and Pregnancy

I wouldn't pose naked NOT pregnant. I certanily wouldn't do it if I was. I've seen Demi Moore's nude pregnant photo, and it actually made me almost sick to my stomach. I know a lot of people think that the sight of a pregnant woman is beautiful, but I don't.

I'm also not that crazy about the woman who go around exposing their pregnant belly, either. It seems to be a new "in" thing for women to wear regular clothes, and just have that big belly hanging out, outie naval and all. I for one don't care to have to see a bloated belly. It's very ugly to me.

i think its beautiful... the human body is beautiful, and so is a womans body when she's got a baby growing inside her. i see nothing wrong with it at all, and i don't think it's ugly. whenever i see a woman who's not ashamed of her pregnant belly, i think, "you go girl"

I think it's beautiful to get photos taken for your own personal use. But splayed all over a cover of a magazine, I think they're stupid. I also think that for regular naked photos. I would gladly take some nice naked photos of myself, pregnant or not, for my fiancé...but that's our business and no one elses. I definitely wouldn't publish them all over the place. I've seen a lot of places that do tasteful nude photos and they're beautiful...but I believe that they're only for select eyes.

I agree with this!

I've seen some very tastefully done portraits of nude pregnant women. Usually they are posed with their husbands covering their breasts and private parts. I would have rather died than showed my pregnant belly, people would have come up to me asking directions, because, with all my stretch marks, I looked like a road map!

I don't care if stars pose naked while pregnant as long as it's tasteful. The pic of Spears looks beautiful. But it's when very pregnant women let their bellys hang out, wearing clothes that the wore before they got pregnant, that wouldn't fit a 4 year old is what really grosses me out. For crying out loud cover up no one wants to see that!

I don't think there is anything wrong with it if the person doing it isn't trying to be sexy, which most of the people mentioned at the beginning probably were. You know they all got a tooonnn of airbrushing though, nobody looks like that when theyre pregnant!

I think paintings of it could be done very beautifully and nicely.

And then there's this:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3173169.htm

A pregnant-belly-painting contest! Some of them are not so beautiful, some of them are very beautiful. Just like deciding whether or not to show your regular stomach!

I think the belly painting contests are actually kind of cute. I myself had a belly cast done while I was pregnant with both of my girls. My hippie step-mom gave me gift certificates. I think we were supposed to paint them ourselves and then decorate our wall with them. Mine are still just white plaster and they live on the highest shelf in the closet. I don't need to be reminded about how fat I was, I've got the stretch marks that remind me every single day!

I agree, those belly painting things are cute. I've seen some neat ones before, I'll have to find them online. And those casts are so neat.

God has created the human body as a beautiful, beautiful thing.

It is simply breathtaking.

Appreciation of God's creation is very important to me. If I do it it would be an oil painting, not a picture, and it would be done by my husband. He is very gifted.

I personally think the photo of Britney is beautiful - I think she looks stunning!

I just saw the naked Britney pic. Airbrushing aside it is a great photo of her. As for my opinion of nudes while pregnant I think its fine. My opinion of the human body is that we shouldn't be ashamed of any size or shape that we come in, and it should be celebrated for all that it is. Pregnancy is such a temporary state for woman, and it should be looked at as a time to learn as much about the "self" as possible. When that child is born, everything in that woman's life changes. The image of the nude pregnant self can be a reminder of a time where things were different, in a state of waiting for a change. I feel that it is more that appropriate to memorialize this time with an image.

Tasteful pics for your partner's private viewing is between them, I could care less.
I REALLY hate to see women in tight clothes with their bare bellies hanging out. It grosses me out, because most of the ones I have seen were nasty looking pre-pregnancy. When I was working at a local hotel a few years ago, a girl came in for an application. She was about 6-7 months along, wearing a wife beater, no bra, a pair of cut off jeans with only a seam holding the crotch together, unzipped, under her big belly. It was so disgusting! The application went straight in the trash.

I don't think I'd do it, but I definitely feel that a pregnant or nursing woman is one of nature's most beautiful things. The other day, I saw a pregnant woman who was wearing a shirt that had just a thin chiffon panel covering her stomach. It showed basically everything. She was an average looking woman in most respects, but I truly thought she looked stunning. Assuming I am pregnant someday, I can see wearing a shirt like that to have a picture taken. But no nudity for me.

My friend had photo's done with wraps around her, not nude. I think it depends on the person. I'm wayyyy to self concious for that. Now my friend who had photos done is the kind of girl who exercised every day of all 3 of her pregnancies, so she looked good! Me on the other hand...nope! Don't think so!

I have mixed feelings on this issue.

On one hand, why do we view the pregnant body as "ugly?" Why does it need to be covered up? It reminds me of the days in some societies where pregnancy was something that was both necessary yet embarrassing--women would go into social seclusion and only emerge again after the baby was born. She would be sent on "vacation" as explanation when people asked.

The pregnant body is a natural thing, and it can be quite beautiful when tastefully displayed. When a woman is proud and confident about showing off that pregnant belly--and dressed in maternity clothing that fits properly--I think her beauty will shine through. If people choose to have pics taken of their nude prenant bodies, I have no problem with it.

I do think, on the other hand, that it can look not-so-nice when the pregnant mom is either too lazy to buy maternity clothing (why bother?) or in denial (what, my pre-pregnancy clothes still fit!). I also think there are appropriate and inappropriate times to display one's belly. As someone else pointed out, a job interview is a time to dress conservatively.

The only thing that kinda makes me worry, though, is the idea that all these nude pregnancy shots are a further glorification of children taken to an extreme. We already live in a society where Junior gets what he wants. Junior gets taken to late night rated R movies that result in nightmares and fine-dining restaurants where he starts crying and throwing tantrums, disturbing everyone else's dining experience. Junior gets every latest toy, knows nothing of responsibility, and has become an expert at manipulating one parent against the other. Yes, it's bad parenting, but we seem to live in a society that encourages it. Are all these nude pregnant photos on prominent magazines another symptom of that glorification of children culture? After all, we women are all to be treated as pre-pregnant all the time anyway, right?

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87079

I don't think the pregnant body is ugly, nor the unpregnant body...I just feel it's not decent to be posing naked for others to see.

Something I find interesting about the whole thing is that although many people find the naked pregnant woman photos/sheerly dressed pregnant women perfectly okay, a non-pregnant woman doing the same things would be ridiculed and considered "loose" or a bad role model. I'm not at all against nudity (we all more or less have the same parts), just pointing out an observation.

Why do we view the body at all as ugly, pregnant or not? Why do some believe that seeing a naked body will warp childrens' minds and ruin their lives? Why is nudity equated with lack of self-worth,etc? We were not born in burlap sacks, hazmat suits, etc. So why is anything less than full coverage such a disgusting, disturbing taboo to some?

Good point. I think it's a matter of culture and what we are exposed to and what attitudes our parents teach us on the matter. In the US at least, it seems that almost all nudity is equated with sex, whether rightly or wrongly. Then there's the concern over the objectification of women, seeing them simply as objects and not as people. Then there's that annoying standard of nudity in movies. It's still more of a big deal to see men nude, it seems...
There's the big question of what is art, how art is in the eye of the beholder, including the nude human bodies. Cats are so lucky that they don't care about such things!

I am trying to teach my children to be accepting of the human form. My 3 year old never wants to keep her clothes on, including panties, and (whether its right or wrong) we allow her to be "free" in the privacy of our own home. She still goes into the bathroom when daddy has to go potty or take a shower. Some of our friends say "isn't she a little old for that?" I don't think so. She doesn't equate naked to naughty and I hope she will retain that innocence for a while. (I'm sure kindergarten will ruin her!)

When I was pregnant with my boys I felt like I was as big as a house! Plus I had stretch marks from my oldest son so I was very shy about it. When friends came up to me they would lift my shirt to see my baby belly and honestly I got embarrassed by it sometimes. I was raised in a very modest family. To this day I have yet to see my father in a pair of shorts much less his underwear
My husband is a very open person and has no problem walking around in his underwear..Me? I barely come out of the bedroom w/o being fully dressed. My boys will run around in just thier underwear, which is fine with me (less laundry to do ) I guess it's to each thier own

I agree with this also

I agree.... She so pretty.... I love her in the black hair

First off, the Britney photo is air brushed. Britney looks great in this picture though. Her hair & make up look fabulous. And although I think they could've done it a little more tasteful (I mean, you can see everything but her nipples and bikini line) all in all it's not a "bad" picture. I can only hope that I look as great as she does when I am pregnant. And I guess the real issue is, would it be ok for you or I to sit in the middle of times square naked, with my legs crossed and covering my nipples? Nope. They'd toss me in jail in a second. And although this is a magazine, it's in every store you go to, staring people and children in the face at the check out lines. It doesn't really bother me per say, but I can see how others who are more modest would feel. I was raised that the nude body is indeed beautiful, but that modesty was important, and that your nudity be shared and appreciated by "the one", ideally my husband.

Are we putting nude pics of men on the cover in the check out aisle for all the kids & all the world to see with a hand covering up their man parts? Nope.

Another important factor in all this is how you grow up. If you have brothers, you are more likely to know about girl parts & boy parts, but I have 3 sisters, so I never had the experience as a child to know what boy parts look like. My father was always covered up, or in his boxers at a minimum. My mother as well, I mean we saw her in her underwear, but not nude. It was never made to be a big deal, if we happened to walk in on someone nude, but we were told to respect peoples privacy by knocking... they are called private parts for a reason. I have recently noticed through friends of our daughter, that a 7yo little girl will strip out of a wet bathing suit in front of her 10 year old brothers, and while this is not a very big deal, I do not want my 8yo undressing in front of her friends 10 yo brothers. So I think your upbringing has a big part in how you feel about this topic.

Aside from all of this, I feel bad for the kids... the ones who have to grow up and see a picture of their mom naked. Regardless of whether or not she was pregnant. That is something that no one wants to see.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I think pregnant women are beautiful but...

Krazy Kat2 I agree, I would have thrown it away too lol.

Is this nude picture of Britney Spears on the internet? I haven't seen it.

You haven't read British Cosmo.....the greatest magazine ever!!!

Here HopeHacker, it's not really nude but even if it was all hanging out it would still be beautiful. Shes not being lude with the photograph and personally it's really pretty...