Beyond Babedom

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Minding Everyone’s Business Except Their Own

This is a special guest column by Christine of The Christine Show. Visit her blog at www.theChristineShow.com

Okay, I’ve had it.  I read something the other day that just roasted my corn.

It seems that Jillian Michaels, one of the trainers on TV’s ‘The Biggest Loser” and known for having probably T-H-E most smokin’ body on TV, is being lambasted for her conscious and rational decision not to get pregnant, her reason being that she does not want to ruin her body.  Ms. Michaels has told interviewers that she struggled with being overweight when she was a child, and has worked incredibly hard throughout her life to achieve what she has now … T-H-E most smokin’ body on TV.

Dr. Leslie Seppinni, a Los Angeles-based Family Therapist & Clinical  Psychologist:  “She is teaching people about body image and self-esteem.  Women have children all the time and get right back in shape particularly if they exercise.  If this is how she truly feels, she should seek counsel before coaching others on issues of body image.”

Seek counseling?!  Who the hell is this Dr. Seppinni?  A woman decides, for whatever reason, that she doesn’t want to give birth to children, and Dr. Seppinni says that she needs counseling?!  Do you believe that Ms. Michaels is coaching others not to get pregnant?  I don’t think so.  I think Ms. Michaels is coaching others to be comfortable with a healthy body image, pregnant or not.

Dr. Mike Bishop, Executive Director at Wellspring health/weight loss camps:  “Jillian’s self-worth seems to be tied to her appealing appearance, and her appearance isn’t necessarily reflective of overall health and happiness.”

Hey, Dr. Bishop!  Ms. Michaels’ appearance is reflective of her health and happiness, so what’s it to you?  Just because she doesn’t want to get pregnant, she’s automatically classified by you as unhealthy and unhappy?  I wish more women would think long and hard about becoming pregnant … and I’m not talking about women who are afraid of ‘losing their figures’ … I’m talking about women who get pregnant to keep a man/to obtain benefits/to get their own reality TV show.

Are these people telling Ms. Michaels that she should get pregnant in order to project to others what a healthy body image she has, and how much happier and healthier she is?  If she goes ahead and gets pregnant just to appease all of these brass-ball-bozos who can’t keep their noses out of everyone’s business, can Ms. Michaels justify naming Drs. Seppinni and Bishop in her Petition to Obtain Child Support?

It’s a woman’s prerogative to become pregnant.  Well, maybe not all the time, but in this case, it’s definitely Ms. Michaels’ prerogative.  Whether she decides to get pregnant, or not get pregnant, or adopt a litter of beagle puppies to satisfy her mom-cravings is absolutely no one’s business except hers.  How dare anyone publicly chastise her, or any woman for that matter!  What if she had come out and said she doesn’t want to get pregnant, not for fear of losing years of hard work to get to T-H-E most smokin’ body on TV, but because she couldn’t stand the smell of baby poop?  I wonder what the critics would say then.

I’m in total support of her decision, and do not think one iota less of her as a woman, or as a personal trainer, or as someone who’s got the brass to put herself on the chopping block for a bunch of knuckleheads to take a whack at her .  And, hey, Ms. Michaels … if you do decide you want to adopt … I’ve got a very well-behaved (*cough*) Basset Hound you can try out for a couple of weeks.

Visit www.thechristineshow.com for more of Christine’s rants

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 12:34 PM and is filed under Guest Contributor, Social Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. terri says:

    I don’t care that she doesn’t want to get pregnant or not, but I do think that she is not being truthful. A woman who really wants children doesn’t care what it does to her body. Woman with smokin hot bodies get pregnant all the time and the get their smokin hot body back. Just say you don’t want kids! Have ’em, don’t have ’em. Who cares. It’s your life and your decision. You don’t need a lame excuse. Kids are a lot of work, and you have to make sacrifices. Not everyone wants to do that, and believe me I get it! As someone who had a kid later in life, I was pretty set in my ways. It was a big adjustment, but I always knew I wanted one. Some people have always know that they don’t.

  2. Linda Addeo says:

    Some of my best friends are not mothers and with good reason. Not everybody is cut out for the job. Everyone is entitled to live the “good life” and a lot of the times that means NO KIDS!

  3. Tony says:

    Jillian Michaels does have a smokin body, so? who cares? She’s a trainer, and she should have a smokin body, but at some point in time she will get old. And by old I don’t mean 80. I mean 50…. yes, 50 is old despite how WE (including myself) feel. I don’t care how great your body is at 50 or 60, you ain’t sexy to anybody but a horny old man at that age. Don’t get it twisted with all this new talk of Cougars, BS… when it comes down to the nitty gritty, the majority of guys are definitely NOT looking for the 50 y/o Cougar. So when Jillian is tired of training or perhaps CAN’T train anymore, will she be just as content living without children? Her husband? uh perhaps not, because if her husband shared in her shallowness of looks and perception then he’ll be gone at the first sight of crowsfeet.

    That being said (probably not as eloquently as I would have liked it to be said) Jillian does have the right to decide if she wants to bear children but I think her reasons are off a bit.

  4. Camille says:

    I agree with the two previous posts. Jillian does coach others, directly or indirectly. I agree that her self image seems tied to her appearance. And I agree that she has the right to decide whether or not she has children. I think her reasoning sounds shallow and insincere.

  5. Angie says:

    …Or there must be something wrong with me because I only have one…the countless comments of “When are you having another one?” “When is the next one coming?” “You better hurry up on the next one before Andre gets too old for a sibling!” How about “It’s none of your God damned business when or if I’m having another child.” And, I don’t make life decisions, like having another baby, based on the age of my first child. Not once has anyone ever said to me “Thank you for stopping at one. The over-populated earth will greatly benefit from that.” Maybe I will one day have another baby. Maybe I won’t. But, there is nothing wrong with me, or anyone else for that matter, who decides they are happy and content with one child, or none at all. I almost feel like telling people I can’t have another baby…just to shut them up…and leave them walking away with their tail between their legs. Enough already.

  6. Kirk Shorte says:

    I’ve been told by several women that one of the reasons why they’ve held off having children was the fear of losing their figures. It’s funny how European women seem to be able to keep their figures even after having children. I guess it all depends on when you start. If you’re young your body tends to be more resilient. But if you’re a couch potato all bets are off.

  7. Steve says:

    I agree with the two previous posts. Jillian does coach others, directly or indirectly. I agree that her self image seems tied to her appearance. And I agree that she has the right to decide whether or not she has children. I think her reasoning sounds shallow and insincere.

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