There are a few things you shouldn't say or do around a pregnant woman. They include "don't talk about her weight," and "don't touch her baby bump."
It seems simple enough. But when you're in the media, like ABC13 weekday anchor Erica Simon, some people feel the need to express their opinions about your body without a filter or manners.
Simon, who is expecting her second child, recently took to social media to share her annoyance over comments from viewers who have been less than respectful about her pregnancy weight gain. Some said she had looked "pudgy" for weeks. Others were harsher.
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At 5 feet tall, Simon's petite stature means pregnancy weight shows more quickly, she said.
"As I enter into my third trimester, I have a friendly PSA: No, I'm not about to pop, deliver tomorrow or having twins," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I'm petite with a small torso, so no matter the size of the baby, I'm going to present startling big in the tummy. It's not polite to constantly comment on women's pregnant bodies."
She's right. Women's bodies, especially while pregnant, should not be open to public commentary.
Take the scrutiny Meghan Markle, who was Duchess of Sussex, faced while pregnant with her first child. She was criticized for her bump being "too high" and her thumbs being "too bendy."
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ABC13-KTRK news anchor Erica Simon is expecting her second child.
Beyoncé also caught heat while pregnant with Blue Ivy. In 2011, she appeared at the University of Houston's Friends of Women's Studies Living Archives program, in which her mother, Tina Knowles, was honored.
I moderated the conversation that day and admired how the Houston-native superstar looked beautifully pregnant and wearing stilettos. On social media, many accused her of faking her pregnancy. Who thinks of something so absurd?
Negative comments about a pregnant woman's body can have damaging health effects. In the Journal of Social Science and Medicine, a study found that pregnant and postpartum women experience a weight-related stigma, which includes judgment and ridicule. According to the study, this stigma is linked to a host of negative physical and mental health outcomes.
In 2018, while pregnant with daughter, Ella, Simon went on social media to defend her pregnancy body against viewers who felt the need to comment about her weight. Her post went viral and was reported on Today.com and the Daily Mail.
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The random comments about her second pregnancy have been worse, she told me during a recent visit to the station with Houston Chronicle visual journalist Raquel Natalicchio.
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"I'm carrying a boy, and he carries different. There's a lot more bloating and indigestion this time. I gained weight a lot faster. I knew I'd get comments."
Also, as a Black woman, the comments can hit harder. "We definitely get a lot of comments, from our hair to our shape to what we wear. I do feel like there's a level of standard that people expect us to be," she said.
Natalicchio's images of Simon that accompany this column show just how strong a woman Simon is.
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And, thankfully, there's some decency in the world.
Simon's colleagues across the nation have been supportive and have come to her defense, she said, and her husband has been showering her with compliments. Her mother told her to focus on the "miracle of life."
A few weeks ago, a random viewer spotted Simon and her family at a furniture store. The woman was so elated to see her favorite TV anchor that she leaned in and rubbed Simon's belly.
In this case, the woman wasn't trying to be disrespectful.
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Unfortunately, entitled behavior often is.
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