I have no idea who Kourtney Kardashian is – I gather she’s famous, but since I don’t watch television I can’t tell you if that’s true or not (I know; I’m hopelessly out of touch, especially when Rebecca fails to keep me updated about this stuff). But that’s not the point. I just wanted to say: Kudos for doing the right thing.
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Rebecca adds: The Kardashians are a bizarre clan. Their stepdad is former Olympian Bruce Jenner, who has had so much plastic surgery as to look unrecognizable (is this Michael Phelps in 30 years’ time?) and their only other claim to fame, however tenuous, seems to be steatopygianism. I am happy that she is speaking publicly about choosing not to abort. Does it make me a curmudgeon, though, that she needed her hand held to tell her family she was expecting?
It kan’t be easy koping with parenthood if a frank discussion with your siblings is so daunting.
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Andrea adds: Rebecca, you do know that “can’t” and “coping” start with “c”? Anyhoo, I heard about this star’s decision to keep her baby and a whole flurry of thoughts went through my head. Why was this agonizing for her? (She’s 30 and must be aware that sex can sometimes lead to pregnancy–even if you are on The Pill.) But then I realized, no, we can’t take this for granted. Our culture is very abortion-friendly. So yes, kudos (with a “k”) to Kourtney for keeping the baby, also for going public with the process.
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Rebecca can’t resist adding to this thread: KK (I really hope her middle name starts with a different letter) on eating while pregnant:
“You know what’s weird? Like, I always thought, like, if I was pregnant I would eat like, McDonald’s or like, Taco Bell all day long or something,” she says. “I’m not craving those things. Like, I’ve been craving, like, cold stuff like frozen yogurt and smoothies and like, I’ve been eating way more fruit then I used to eat before.”
When editors like you, they edit your quotes to make you sound less like a 12 year old.
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This raises the question of how many celebs do choose to abort… you wouldn’t hear about those. There is no fame to be gained from abortion, and they won’t have the bulge or baby that prevents those who choose to carry to term from keeping the shame of pregnancy hidden.
Which is interesting in itself – if it’s so totally morally neutral, why not? At this point, celebs and quasi celebs have televised their tummy tucks and their sex lives. And Kourtney shies away from even saying the word abortion. Is it just a desire to avoid controversy, or do most people get at some level that abortion is awful, even if they never admit it, to themselves or anyone else?
Suricou–
What do you mean by the “shame of pregnancy?”
If they are considering abortion, then it’s probably unwanted. So that means they’ve managed to get pregnent unintentionally – if unmarried, that’s going to lose them points with the conservative population for having sex at all, and even if married they’ll lose points with the liberal population for not using contraception properly. Either way, while an unplanned pregnency is going to get them in the papers (Never a bad thing for a professional celeb), it isn’t going to earn them much respect.
Just how much of a problem it is depends on exactly what celebrity they are. If they are a professional media whore (As Kourtney is), it could even be beneficial – turn it into paid exclusive interviews, and an excuse to have revealing photos taken and sold to the highest bidder. But for a celeb who gains their fame as a presenter, politician or another more intellectual field, it’s a problem threatening their credability.
Take this quote. “As for having an unplanned pregnancy she says, “This sounds probably so dumb but there’s so many times I’ll forget to take my pill and just don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Kardashian admits. “I’ve done that several times and never really thought about it. It sounds so stupid.” ” Does that sound like someone you would trust with anything important? Kourtney can get away with it because she’s very attractive, and no one hires her for her brains.
Sarah Palin lost a lot of political points for an unplanned pregnancy, and it wasn’t even hers – her daughter got pregnant, and Sarah was the one whome it reflected badly upon.
There’s a reason pregnant unmarried women used to be sent away to keep the local gossips finding out. Pregnancy means sex. You can certinly get away with a lot more these days than you used to be able to – fifty years ago, getting pregnant by someone other than their husband would have ended the career of just about any woman in entertainment. Today, though most of the stigma has gone, it’s still something that can be a source of embarassment.
Anyway, my point is still that if Kourtney (K? Who spells it with a K?) had chosen an abortion, she could have kept it all completly covered up, and none of us would ever know. So who is to say how many celebrities have done just that?