Yesterday at the VMAs, Beyonce publicly confirmed the pregnancy rumors by ending her performance by opening her jacket and rubbing her belly. A bit shocked to hear this myself, I googled "pregnant Beyonce" and found these sites (and many more, of course).
http://www.usmagazine.com/momsbabies/news/source-beyonce-is-pregnant-20102010
http://news.yahoo.com/destiny-child-beyonc-announces-pregnancy-133803530.html
A quote that jumped out at me was:
"B was shocked. She loves kids, but she wasn't ready to be a mother just yet," says a source of the singer, who married rapper Jay-Z in 2008. "She really wanted to get her album done and tour the world again."
What does it mean exactly to be "ready to be a mother?" Do future mothers have to have some type of mindset that "I am ready to conceive" before they should have a baby? Is it something that they decide by themselves or is it socially constructed?
And the fact that she wanted to wait until more of her business goals were fulfilled before having a child suggests that even in modern society today, a woman having a career and having a baby don't go along together. It almost seems as if she feels she has to decide between one or the other. Is this true? How do you feel about the fact that women have to face this decision while men can easily choose both?
Another interesting quote was:
“I always said I would have a baby at 30,” Beyoncé said during a June “Piers Morgan Tonight” appearance.
What do you think about the fact that she knew she wanted to have a baby at such a specific age? It seems like she was planning it way ahead of time, like she has to follow a set life schedule for herself. Also, is this entirely based off her own opinion or is it influenced by what society perceives to be the "right age" to start a family?
Feel free to answer any of the questions or leave a comment! Thank you!
It's interesting how the baby becomes "spectacle", it is served up as public entertainment, before it's even born or is able to consent to such public display. It's also worth thinking about how pregnancy might give "the media" ("us") even more carte blanche to probe/police the woman's body relentlessly like a thing/product being examined: is it up to par? Is it pretty enough? Is it blond enough? Is it skinny enough? Is it young enough? And it never is, is it? But we have to make sure. Repeatedly. This notion of repetition is quite important. How many celebrities have been pregnant and had babies, adopted babies, had twins, etc. And we still seem just as invested in gawking at them talking about them, investigating their every step: what's this hyper-curiosity about? Does the male body ever invite such a gaze? And what about the notion of a baby as the "cherry on top" of the cake, the final seal of legitimacy for a woman's plenitude? Mission accomplished? What comes after Beyonce's pregnancy? Or is she done? Will she have been used up and we will go on to "follow" another younger/lighter/blonder/prettier body that is still yet to go through the process all over again? What kinds of illusions or guarantees does this cycle of repetitions buy us?
ReplyDeleteDiego
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the fact that Beyonce said she “wasn’t ready” to be a mother yet. I wonder if the motherly mindset includes being ready to give up one’s job, or at least put it on hold. Since Beyonce has such a successful career, maybe she has not yet come to terms with the idea that her career will have to slow down. Although it is unfair, I think it is true that a woman has to decide between her career and a baby.
ReplyDeleteI think that the idea of being “ready to be a mother” is a really common saying, suggesting that it is a type of social construct. For a first-time mother, one might not know what to expect from the pregnancy and baby and that could be why Beyonce claimed she “wasn’t ready.”