Never Ask a Woman If She's Pregnant, And Other Faux Pas

So, a friend of mine from undergrad has been horribly pregnant (she's having the pregnancy I always imagine I would have) for a while, and I recently discovered she's been keeping a very thoughtful blog about it.  Anywho, last week she had a post about how she was out and people were asking if she was pregnant and while it was cool that people were interested...what if she hadn't been?

This struck a chord with me, a big massive terrible rage-a-riffic chord.  Because I've never been pregnant.  And I've been asked that.

This happened while we were living in North Carolina (for why that should explain everything, refer back to here).  I was heavy--I topped 200 lbs at the time, and while I carried it well, I was very sensitive about it.  It was even towards the end of our stay there--I think we only had a month or two left, which was a good thing, because the incident in question was one of those, "We can't come back here again," incidents.  The hubby and I had innocently gone to the mall food court for lunch, and while the dude at Sbarro was putting together my salad and pizza, the woman in line behind us asked me if I was pregnant (apparently I was glowing or some bullshit).  I exploded.  I tried to be civil, but I was seeing red, and I think I responded along the lines of, "You don't ask a woman that.  I mean, I know I'm heavy, but that's extremely insulting."  And, because this was Greenville, the woman didn't say, "Oh, my bad.  Sorry." No, she reacted to my outrage with utter bafflement.  She honestly couldn't understand what was wrong with her question, and she proceeded to call to her nearby friend and MOCK ME for being upset about being asked if I was pregnant.  It was the closest I have ever been to a fight, and if the hubby hadn't intervened I would've taken a swing at her.

So, for those of you who still don't understand why it's wrong to ask a woman if she's pregnant, I'll attempt to explain.  Please keep in mind that I have difficulty understanding how anyone could ever think that's okay, so coming down enough to clarify it may be tricky.  Fundamentally, it comes down to body image issues.  Women in our country are constantly being told (overtly and subliminally, through pretty much every media outlet) that you can never be too thin.  And by that, I mean that we have it shoved in our faces that we are always too fat.  This results in some pretty poor self images, not to mention a variety of eating disorders.  And, with America's ever increasing girth, we grow even more sensitive about our size.  "Fat" has become a new four letter word.  You wouldn't walk up to a woman and say, "Wow, you're fat!" she'd deck you. 

When a woman is pregnant, she gains a lot of weight--her body stores extra nutrients to feed the baby, you've got the baby itself, and her boobs get bigger because they're getting ready to spurt out milk.  Even the smallest woman in the world gets pretty huge when she's pregnant.

So, if you ask a woman if she's pregnant, you're implying that she looks big enough to be pregnant.  Which, if she's not hauling around a baby inside, means that all that extra size is made up of fat.

That's right, asking a non pregnant woman if she's preggers is the same as calling her fat.

And it can be hard to tell.  Here, look at this picture I found on the internet:

Pregnant, or overweight?

Now, given that I found the picture on a site dedicating to helping obese women with their pregnancies, and the crib in the background, I think it's safe to say she's probably pregnant.  But if you saw her on the street, would you be able to tell?

When we're overweight, we know it.  And, usually, we feel awful about it.  Every time we look in the mirror and see that extra chin, we call ourselves fat.  When we're talking to our adorable skinny friends, we feel like fat cows.  And the bitch of it is, our adorable skinny friends probably feel the same way when they look in the mirror and talk to their even more adorable and even skinnier friends.  For the love of god, don't ask us questions that imply that we are just as big as we feel!

But that's actually not the worst emotional baggage you can bring up by asking a woman if she's pregnant.  What if she recently miscarried?  What if she's been trying to get pregnant, but can't?  Congratulations, you just reminded her that she doesn't have the baby she so desperately wants.

While we're on the topic of kids, let's talk about the other big faux pas people make when asking women about their reproductive history.  Don't ask a woman when she's going to have kids.  Just don't.  Wonder to yourself, ask her mom when she's not around, but don't ask a woman when she's going to have kids.  Those of you who know me will assume that it's because some women don't want kids, which is true.  Personally, I think I can live a fulfilling life and die satisfied without ever popping out another human being.  But that's a topic for another post (yes, I have that many reasons for not having kids). 

No, the primary reason you don't ask a woman when she's going to have kids is this: infertility.

See, like I just mentioned, there are plenty of women out there who want kids, but for whatever reason, they can't have them.  Maybe their hubby's shooting blanks, maybe they have endometriosis or some other disorder, maybe their health and lady bits are such that having a baby would kill them.  Doesn't matter.  What does is that they can't have a baby of their own, even though they want one and would be the most awesome mom in the world.  Just imagine yourself in their shoes.  I expect the internal monologue runs along the lines of, "When am I going to have kids?  Never." Cue tears and sobbing.  Knowing that there are women out there who want kids but can't have them kinda makes me feel guilty about not wanting to have them at all, and often has me hoping that I'm infertile myself.

On a similar note, when a woman tells you she's pregnant, don't always assume it's a good thing.  Most times it is--a majority of women do want to have kids.  But there are a lot of circumstances under which pregnancy is not good news.  If they've been trying, by all means, congratulate them and ask for updates periodically.  If you don't know, well....  I know for a fact that if I peed on a pregnancy test and it came out positive, the first words out of my mouth would be a string of expletives.  Watch their body language and tone when they announce it, and respond accordingly.  If you're still not sure whether congratulations or condolences are in order, ask (politely).

I guess the whole point of this rambling quasi rant comes down to this: a woman's reproductive capabilities are none of your business (unless you're her fella or her OB-GYN).  Don't ask.  It's a sensitive subject.  I'm not advocating political correctness but basic human sensitivity and a respect for other people's privacy.  You don't have a right to know what's going on in my uterus.  If you think I'm glowing, then just give me a compliment, "You look amazing."  If you think I'd be a great mom, put some kids near me and tell me how good I am with them.  We women have to put up with so much crap from our bodies, we don't need you giving us more. 

Worry about your own reproductive parts, and keep your nose out of mine.  If I want you to know, I'll tell you.