Does anyone know why moms pose in photos with their hands like that? I just posed for pics like that too, so guilty as charged!
Can you imagine, if you had no bump and you were holding your hands that way in a picture? There is something so motherly about it but without the bump, it's just odd don't you think?
I was trying to figure out what it is that makes us do that. Do you think it's just cultural - we see others do that so we do it? Do you think it's a natural reflex to the baby moving in the belly?
Thought about it for several weeks and here are some idea
#1 - If you just pose with your hands at your side, it might look like you're not that excited about being pregnant because you're already pushing your stomach forward by the natural weight redistribution that the bump brings. Pushing your bump forward without embracing your bump sometimes looks like you're distancing yourself from your bump!
#2 - it helps to make out the shape of your belly by holding it that way.
#3 - it's universal language for 'I'm expecting' - when people see that, they know that the purpose of your photo is to document your pregnancy.
#4 - caressing your belly is a way to show intimacy for a child that you can't hold yet.
#5 - it's a way to cut up your silhouette sort of how Beyonce does this to have the nicest lines for the camera.
#6 segue here: Check these pics out:
This pic looks more like - ouch my back hurts!
Whereas this looks like:
yup, I'm definitely having a baby and happy about it!
#6 bringing me back to another possibility - it is a way to accentuate a bump that is not very visible otherwise.
#7 It's a rite of passage - the belly hold is not something you can do when you don't have a baby there, so embrace it!
Any other suggestions and what do you think? All of the above? Or do you wish people wouldn't do the belly hold?
As long as we don't have belly hold plus peace sign, I'm fine with it! How about you?
38 comments
When a pregnant woman does this it
Looks like they’re grabbing their Crotch. So distasteful. My daughter did it to pose for photos with all of her children. Absolutely unnecessary.
I TOTALLY agree with Cynthia W. Laughlin. I especially like her comment, “It’s always in style to be discreet and respectful of the human body.” I had 4 babies in the 1960s and I guarantee that everyone knew I was pregnant, even without the showing off of baby bumps. And they knew I was happy about it because I dressed proudly and took care of myself. I’ll be glad when this fad passes. I think it’s disrespectful to your unborn baby to make a spectacle of being pregnant.
It’s annoying. I think it’s so people don’t think you’re fat. I think I will start doing it with my beer belly.
Also if women are doing it just to show they are pregnant and not fat that says something more pathetic about our society than just this one woman doing it