Between his mixed martial arts fighting, his acting (under the mystifying nickname "The Reidernator"), his onetime marriage to a well-known English model, and his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Alex Reid is apparently somewhat of a household name in Britain. Personally, I hadn't heard of him until this week, when I saw a photo of him sporting a large pregnant belly.
The image is fairly ... uh, eye-catching, I guess. There's Reid, with his rugged fighter's face (including telltale cauliflower ears) and muscles on display—along with a full-on baby bump.
Reid reportedly donned the fake belly in order to show his pregnant fiancée that he empathizes with her condition, but to me it not only comes across as a painfully lame publicity stunt, it's just plain disturbing.
Basically, here are the times I think it's appropriate or charming for a guy to wear a fake pregnant belly: NEVER.
I mean, for one thing, it just looks creepy. Call me close-minded, but I'm really not interested in seeing a dude stuffing his shirt to look like he's got a baby on board. A dude with an actual baby on board is one thing (and I can't lie, that image is pretty freaky to me too), but the fake preggo suit? Gross.
For another thing, the idea that wearing a pillow for like an hour can give a man any sort of real insight into what it's like to gestate a child? GIVE. ME. A. BREAK.
It seems like Reid was either trying to send his fiancée a sincere message that he cares about what she's going through—a theory that's pretty much negated in my mind by the ridiculous photos that include him fake-suffering his way through a variety of lame stereotypically female tasks like doing the dishes and mopping the floor, not to mention his annoying quote that he's not sure why they've been fighting, because "There are only two things I do wrong at the moment: everything I say and everything I do....I breathe wrongly and I get my throat jumped down,"—orrrrrrrrrr, you know, he's a cheesy famewhore who was hoping this stunt would pull in some press.
At any rate, I can't imagine that his fiancée will be swept off her (tired, swollen) feet by his little costume, but I've certainly been wrong before. Maybe "empathy belly" men will become the hot new thing. Hell, with enough men moaning and bitching about their fake pregnancies, maybe we'll get some better maternity leave policies around here.
What do you think of dudes wearing fake pregnant bellies? Hot or not?
Image via Flickr/Henry Scott
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Comments 13
I think it would be great if the fake belly came with real "side effects" of being pregnant. The morning sickness, the kicks to the ribs, the swollen ankles, etc etc.
Wow, this article was bitchay! lol
While I dont think my husband necessarily needs to don a fake belly to sympathize with my 6m pregnant self, he does see how I've struggled and how tired I am/get and he treats me accordingly. Wearing a fake belly will NEVER give you the unique joy of feeling your child move, grow, and hiccup which, come on, would be the only reason I'd want to wear one if I were a dude.
Just wearing the belly gives them an idea of what pregnancy is like??? I beg to differ. Give them the morning sickness, the constipation, the fatigue, the nausea, the raging hormones, and the sleepless nights from the baby doing acrobatics in the womb and I'll get on board. Until then, I find the idea of a man just wearing a fake belly to "sympathize" with us women kind of insulting.
Y'know what real sympathy looks like? Making drive-thru runs to satisfy my chocolate milkshake cravings. Rubbing my feet every night on vacation so they wouldn't get swollen from all the walking we were doing. Taking our 2 year old to the park after a long day at work so I could have a few minutes to rest. Taking over laundry duty because my hips hurt too much to do the basement stairs too often. THAT is way more meaningful than strapping a stupid fake bump to his front.
This reminds me of an episode of Full House where Uncle Jesse had to wear the belly to sympathise with Becky when she was carrying Nicky and Alex
I am currently 71/2 months pregnant and have no desire to have my husband wear a belly. I am not at all bitter about getting to be pregnant and don't feel like he needs to experience it. I also agree with other posters that having a belly (even if it was a weighted belly) provides a pregnancy experience. That said, if Reid and his fiancee want to do this together, what should it matter to others?
Oh, and there has never been a pregnant man...
actually, i was quite relieved to read his story, cause reading the topic i thought it was about a new trend for married gays to show their role in the relationship. whew (wiping forehead)