Uh oh, here comes the maternity officers policing Rihanna's pregnancy. Sigh. Why can't people leave her womb alone?
Since announcing her pregnancy with boyfriend A$AP Rocky, Rihanna's been the hot topic of 2022, blessing us with endless style moments.
At the same time, the Barbadian singer is still handling business, as usual, expanding Fenty Beauty's products and setting up Savage X physical stores.
And, yet, something about Rihanna getting pregnant has inexplicably brought out the haters.
On March 3, for instance, a Twitter fan account posted two photos of a pregnant Rih side by side, documenting the growth of her tummy in the span of 18 days for some reason. I mean, wow, it's almost like... she's pregnant and the baby's growing — wild.
Stuff like this led to whispers among the celebrity-obsessed that Rihanna's actually not pregnant and her baby bump is fake. Do these conspiracy theories sound familiar?
Back in 2011, Beyoncé's pregnancy with Blue Ivy sparked surrogacy and fake bump rumors.
In her Life Is But a Dream documentary, the IVY PARK CEO called the rumors "stupid," even talking about Blue's kicks and previous pregnancy complications, including a tragic miscarriage.
Is it really so far-fetched to believe that a famous singer actually got pregnant?
Anyways, other equally stupid opinions about Rihanna's pregnancy came from DJ Vlad, infamous for his rumor mill and interview outlet, VladTV. In a recent interview with Boosie, Vlad pushed the incendiary rapper to agree with his own sexist assertion that Rihanna should've waited until marriage before getting pregnant.
But Boosie, to his credit, had other ideas.
"It's what makes you happy... She's a billionaire. What does she have to follow peers for? She knows what she's fucking doing," Boosie said. "You can't judge her for not being married... If a baby comes, a baby's coming."
I can't believe a transphobic and homophobic Boosie made sense for once — what's the world coming to?
Later, we all witnessed someone yelling "you're late" at Rihanna arriving at Dior's FW22 show, prompting an eye roll and "No shit" from the bad gal herself.
A few Twitter fingers even dared to type that Rihanna's pregnancy looks are a "mess" and "trashy," even begging her to hide her tummy! Guess that's why Rihanna's a CFDA Fashion Icon award-winner and they aren't.
So, why can't these these successful queens catch a break during maternity?
It's all quite disgusting to witness. Women, especially Black women, endure enough obstacles in everyday life. Why would anyone feel the need to shame their celebratory moments?
In 2017, a survey of over 900 new moms revealed that half experienced "regret, shame, guilt or anger" after giving birth. A majority blamed societal pressures.
Rihanna is known to be a savage but even someone as strong as her doesn't deserve to weather this negativity. I mean, hardly any celebrity gossip is productive but this all feels especially pointless.
Just my opinion here, but maybe we should all mind our wombs. Uplift moms or keep quiet — it's just that simple.
Oh, and happy International Women's Day.
