That's Just How Stomachs Look

Recently, clips of Beyonce's tour went viral on social media speculating whether or not the Queen B is pregnant with her fourth child. Whether or not the singer is pregnant is beside the point. NEWSFLASH: Sometimes, that's just how stomachs look.

Whether a person enjoyed some good food, has an ongoing medical issue or infertility, or that is just the way their body is shaped, a person's body deserves privacy and respect. My body happens to be one that is affected by this particular formation. I am not pregnant. I have never been pregnant. My body stores my organs and fat to protect those organs in my lower belly. It has my entire life. I've done crunches, leg lifts, weightlifting, diet changes, but nothing has ever changed that my stomach just looks slightly rounded.

When I was 18, I was shopping in a mall with a person I was dating at that time. The cashier was a woman in her 50's or 60's. I was 100lbs, on the shorter side of average, the most in shape I have ever been in my life, and earlier that year was able to buy a movie ticket designated for those 12 and under. I did not look like a stereotypically pregnant person. It wouldn't matter if I did. Completely unprompted after I had finished checking out, the cashier asked me if I needed help in the maternity section. She asked, "Aren't you pregnant?", pointing to my stomach. I was barely an adult, but this woman thought it was ok to comment on my body. I have thought about that comment almost every day since.

Twelve years after this incident, I think about this comment every time I try on clothes. Recently, I was working on an outfit for a couple of job interviews I was having on a particularly hot day. I was afraid to wear something that would have been completely appropriate for a job interview and would have caused me less discomfort in the heat. I was afraid that the people interviewing me might think I was pregnant. Pregnancy and parental discrimination is real in the workforce. I've heard it first hand from employees of Fortune 500 companies. I was afraid that I would be discriminated against because of the way my body looks. We see this discrimination play out for so many in the workplace and hiring process whether it be fatphobia, racism, ableism, antisemitism, or homophobia.

We cannot control what others say or think about us, but I can still picture the face of the woman who asked me if I was pregnant. She likely never gave me a second thought. Beyonce may never see your post about her stomach, but someone else will. They will see your judgement of a body for decades that has been considered a beauty standard and wonder what they could possibly do to compare. We do not speak in vacuums, and sometimes, that's just how stomachs look.