A 40+ woman with a bit of "middle age spread" around the "middle" is a perfectly common sight everywhere outside Hollywood and other post-adolescent playgrounds. The O-baby watch actually was covered a couple months ago in the National Enqirer and surfaced again in a checkout-counter gossip magazine last week.

Good grief...can't we let the First Family go through their "period of adjustment" in peace? Let them get through the puppy thing first!

And if they decide to add to the family...great, and ultimately not our business.

You're right about the "momification" of Michelle Obama, but I believe we're going through this because no one really knows how to write about Michelle Obama as an individual. She's not a Stepford Wife; she's not a evil, power-mad stereotype of feminist grievance. She's simply an intelligent woman in a loving relationship with two adorable kids. No scandal, no skeletons in her closet. She's not a black militant scorning white friends and colleagues. In other words, she's a normal person of African descent who happens to be the first African-American First Lady. So, of course, an angle has to be found. Considering the crap that could have been reported about her, I'm actually ok with the fixation on her would-be pregnancy. I'm sure I'll be reading a lot worse things a year from now.

Funny, I had the same thought recently- just before the innauguation I think it was and I noticed a little bump there. My initial reaction to the thought was kind of thrilled. I guess because they are just such a sweet family.

Then it occurred to me that she had probably had not had a decent nights sleep in months and I know for myself - just a couple nights of sleep deprivation and my belly is distended.

I'm pretty frequently sleep deprived so it is much more of a shock in the reverse- when I'm on vacation, eating like a pig and my belly flattens out....

So that would be my guess.

I don't know if our obsession with such things is belittling or coming from a sexist place though. I mean you could argue that we see woman as mere vessels- and some people do but I think were largly passed that socially. Pregnancy and motherhood are things exciting things though so I think our curiousity is only natural. Also, as a cultue were nosey as hell.

The worst way to encourage this kind of airhead chatter is to indulge in it.

This article purports to be a "media watchdog" type of piece, but that's just a masquerade for the fluff it critiques, hypocritically.

Not every woman who is carrying around a little extra weight is pregnant. If this gossip was actually spoken to Michelle Obama she would probably give you such a look as to make you shrink back into your shell. She's 45 years old!

These tabloids ought to be ashamed of themselves. It's ridiculous what is done to sell a rag.

All Hail He is Born.

Gunt: Like a gut, but a little lower.

"This summer, [Limbaugh] speculated that Obama would have to announce her pregnancy during her speech at the Democratic National Convention..."

That was what - five months ago? Six? Seven? You'd think there would be more to see by now, wouldn't you?

She has the body of a 45-year-old mother. That's what women actually look like, despite what fashion mags, porn, and the movies would like us all to believe.

While we wait for this story to go away, can we at least dump this awful but of overused gossip-monger slang?

Yes, it is...Feminists should hate it (it's an embryo at that stage, then a fetus), traditionalists should hate it (it's trivializing), anybody who has a modicum of taste should hate it (it's cutesy and reeks of tabloid TV talk). Please, please, please try to resist using "baby bump." This isn't just a pet peeve, unless you have a T. rex for a pet--this is a serious intervention on your behalf.

". . . awful BIT of over-used gossip-monger slang."

Too funny, azucat: We both posted the same thought at the same time.

Hey, SoFla Kate, we're on the same (and correct) wavelength. All we've got to do is get through to Tracy!

moronic.

This post really bugs me. Why are you piling on if you think it's inane? I think it's awful that MO has to endure this if she's not pregnant. I'd HATE it if everybody thought I looked pregnant. Why the hell is salon participating in this kind of tabloid crap? Jesus, it bugs me.

I suppose Governor Palin, who hid her pregnancy for 7 months, is partly to blame for pregnancy paranoia among vapid gossip hounds. (And yes, I'm kidding about "blame").

I don't see a bump of any kind. I do see as bad camera angle and a less than flattering outfit. But then, I didn't Jessica Simpson looked "fat" either (who looks svelte in that get-up, or when shot from ankle level?) I'm confident that Michelle Obama is not pregnant.

But seriously, there is nothing better to discuss about the First Lady?

She could just be bloated, for Pete's sake! I know my gut gives me grief at "certain" times. Michelle is a fabulously curvy and fit woman and she's not pregnant.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone, but what would they do if the baby had Down's Syndrome? would she be treated with the same 'respect' that Sarah Palin received?

I seriously doubt that Mrs. Obama is pregnant, and I should hope she would know the difficulties of having children after the age of 40.

People who use the term "Baby Bump" are just inherently vicious, idle, and jealous gossip mongers who have nothing better to do than watch the midsection of no-name celebrities.

It is an insulting and demeaning term, and it should be eradicated from the language-like the term "Preggers."

While I'm a feminist from way back, there are certain human conditions that shouldn't be diminished by cutesy, stupid terms.

Would you call cancer the "those bad cells", if it were less threatening? Of course not.