Several months ago, it was Vanessa Hudgens’ turn to be the female star of child-bearing age to face pregnancy speculation. Vanessa and Cole Tucker got married back in early December in Mexico. Before the wedding, Vanessa’s friends threw her a bachelorette party in Aspen. After the weekend was over, she put together an Instagram post with shots of her wearing baggy clothing, an oversized sweatshirt and long coats. You know, because they were in Aspen. In late October. In one of the shots in which she’s wearing a more tight-fit outfit with a long white coat, fans went into overdrive, trying to analyze whether or not she had a baby bump. They did this despite there also being a video clip of her popping champagne. This week, Vanessa appeared on Emily Tisch Sussman’s “She Pivots” podcast. During her interview, she talked a little bit about those “rude” rumors and how they made her feel.
“I’m sorry, I don’t wear Spanx every day, and am a real woman and have a real body,” she leveled. “I’m literally celebrating one of the happiest times of my life, and you guys are just gonna make me feel fat. That’s great. Thanks.”
Hudgens went on to reference “the four agreements” women should abide by.
“One of them is don’t make assumptions…in all aspects of life, but especially over other women’s bodies,” she said. “We deal with so much with other people trying to control our bodies, not let’s not make assumptions over other women’s bodies as well.”
The Disney Channel alum spoke out about the commentary on her body at the time it was happening.
“Not pregnant so y’all can stop,” she stated in the comment section of her Instagram post.
Vanessa is completely right about this. It’s time to stop making assumptions about women’s bodies because you don’t know what they’re going through and no one, even celebrities, is immune from bloat, swelling, cellulite, etc. al. It must be so stressful thinking you have to wear Spanx out in public every day just to maintain a certain body image. Kudos to Vanessa for speaking out about how those comments make people feel.
I think most of us will agree that in 2024, the celebrity “bump watch” is weird and outdated. Sure, sometimes a lower-list celeb craves some tabloid attention and does a “hand on the belly” pose to purposefully generate speculation. But overall, making an assumption based on what a woman’s body looks like can make her feel bad (like Vanessa) or put her in an uncomfortable situation (see: Mariah Carey’s appearance on Ellen, which is still one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen on TV). There’s plenty of bad behavior and unfortunate outfits out there that we can gossip and talk sh-t about.
Photos credit: Barbara Hine/Future Image/Cover Images, Getty and via Instagram