I do recall a joke skit on Full House where Uncle Jesse was wearing a fake belly because of some bet he lost with his wife.

Then on 10 Things I Hate About You, a movie about a decade old, the dad would have his teen daughter put on one of those fake bellies before a date to remind her what the consequences of sex are.

So this one may be the highest tech model out, but it's certainly not a new idea.

This piece smacks of the sexism that accompanies the saying, "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." What's our investment in "proving" that pregnancy is miserable or difficult, and it's unfair that only we have to go through it, and we're so put-upon, and oh, boohoo? That's fine if you're trying to convince men (or childless women) that we shouldn't *have* to continue a pregnancy, but otherwise it's more akin to saying, "Look! I can do this for nine months and you can only manage 18 hours of a poor facsimile!" It's oxymoronic to say, and believe, "I'm special and you're the jerk who'se making me go through this."

none of which will have anything to do with you.

maybe I'm missing something.

...but I doubt it's really the same. First, a pregnant woman's body adjusts gradually to the extra weight. It's like gaining weight. A person who is 100 lbs overweight grows larger muscles to accomodate that weight or they wouldn't be able to move. Being 100 lbs overweight is not the same as picking up and carrying a hundred lbs. I suspect that is why they limit the time a person can use the unit. How many of us could pick up and carry 35 lbs all day without conditioning?

Second, there are effects of pregnancy that could not be safely duplicated, if they could be duplicated at all. I suppose that a person could eat lots of salt to fake bloating, but how could a man experience the muskoloskeletal changes a woman undergoes while she is pregnant?

But it was a nice thing for him to do.

to get a woman pregnant or to be a father.

the relations and the problems between men and women would change very very little, other than for all the problems that exist now to get even worse.

My husband would totally try this. I'm 6 months pregnant and he's fascinated by my waddle, watching me struggle like an upturned beetle to get out of bed, and the fact that I sometimes need to pee literally every 10 minuets. He thinks I'm cute and I know he's envious. Too bad he wouldn't also be able to feel the baby kicking or the intense pain brought on by my enlarged kidney or the soreness in my shoulders due to the weight that my bra is forced to uphold.

Really though, I can see this as a good educational tool for people (men and women) who have never experienced pregnancy. Particularly with regards to how the baby belly changes a woman's center of gravity. Of course it wouldn't be exactly the same (no spreading of the hip bones, enlarged breasts, etc), but it might help curious people understand with annoying problems like trying to wash dishes or toddlers while pregnant.

Everyone knows women's bodies are designed by nature to accept pregnancy, including all the physical effects on the body. Women's circulation systems, hormone system, musculature, muscle makeup, even joint and bone structure etc are all tuned to accept the weight of a baby in a uterus for up to nine months.

Everyone also knows pregnancy is gradual, with the weight coming on slowly, hence the warning not to wear the device too long, because it is a sudden weight added to the body.

Everyone also knows that science has proven that the dad suffers along with the mom, at least when it comes to him going through similar hormone cycles during the pregnancy as his wife.

If women had one ounce of heart in them, they would rejoice at the fact that they alone can bring life into the world, and that thus the small burden of childbearing is a small price to pay. particularly when you consider the much greater burden the average man faces merely because he is NOT capable of bearing a child, such as having to go fight wars and die, having to tolerate the bitch despite her uncontrolled psycho makeup if he wants to stay married and continue to see his kids etc.

If women had one ounce of heart in them, they would also quit shoving such garbage in men's faces all the time.

if having kids is such a negative thing, then I encourage women to get together and to demand that the government fund programs to develop means for men to get pregnant. As everyone knows, I would be first in line since I do not relish the prospect of having to put up with some bitch and her mental games just to be able to procreate.

Men have fewer rights and powers than do women, we all know this.

What are women doing to FIX THIS?!?

(the answer is ZERO, NOTHING, ZILCH, which I take as my cue as to how all men should treat women in return from now on, NO HELP WHATSOEVER)

instead of women being good to men, they make sport of busting men by spitefully keep shoveling garbage like this in our faces (then they wonder why feminists have become a walking joke).

Go read Norah Vincent's book and how after 'being' a man for a year and a half, she was ecstatic to finally be able to be female again (with all the advantages it brings).

... may I recommend surgery, BS?

insurance companies, medicare, medicaid, etc. should require that any smoker who receives treatment for any medical condition which is in any way smoking related be required to undergo a session or several with it or the bill won't be covered.

There's a lot of anger coming from some of you guys... Jesus, it's just an educational tool. I'm pretty sure the Empathy Belly (which has been around in a lower-tech form for a couple decades) is really just meant to give people the chance to step into a pregnant woman's shoes, not show how much better women are than men.

On another note, obviously no device however technologically advanced is going to duplicate that experience exactly. Not to mention the fact that no two women are going to have the exact same pregnancy experience. But as a tool to give a father-to-be or a teenage girl or boy thinking about having sex the chance to see what it's like, where's the harm?

Women may be biologically equipped to bear children, but that doesn't make it any less of an uncomfortable experience. Not all men understand that "miracle of life" aside, it's not every woman's idea of good time. Then again, there are definetly men who are empathetic already, and patient with their so-called "bitchy" wives or partners. (Hey, brightstar, chill out on that one. SO uncalled for.)

Relax, y'all. It's just an fake belly, not a personal attack against men.