Is it just me then?

Do you think possibly why you found them upsetting is that yourself you had a tough time in pregnancy and you have been unconsciously comparing yourself to those idealised images? Personally I've never been that bothered by celebrity stuff like that - I felt pretty good pregnant- but I did feel the pressure when I was still pretty overweight nine months later and I think I'd find humour based around snapping back into shape harder to deal with.

Hhhm. To me, that is more taking the piss out of the ridiculously idealised, photoshopped to hell, Demi Moore style pregnancy posing that goes on. I don't find it particularly funny, but nor do I find it upsetting.

What I do think is interesting is how rarely we see a man posing naked. And how rarely men are photographed in such a passive pose. If they are naked or semi-naked it is for a reason - diving in tight shorts, surfing, etc.

No, let's be fair. Perhaps the article about the volleyball players actually was making fun of them. But it was because they themselves were (in the opinion of some people) willingly being part of a system of exploitation. I wouldn't say that about pregnant women having their pictures taken, even nude.

I think it's just you. But I also think there's something here for people interested in gender issues, though it's not totally new. It's about how women versus men are depicted visually, and of course notable fact number 1 is women are more likely to be shown naked or nearly so--even when pregnant, or perhaps especially. Sometimes it really makes the whole thing clear when you see men shown in the same way as women conventionally are. It's not ridiculing pregnant women so much as it's pointing out the way images of pregnant women are made and accepted, which isn't the same at all.

Remember back in the summer there was a piece on "What if every Olympic sport was photographed like beach volleyball?" Not making fun of the women playing volleyball, but pointing out the way the volleyball players were being presented.

I think it is very funny. Pregnant women aren't the target of the humour, I think. The target is that whole style of pregnancy photography -- and also the men themselves, who are making themselves look quite daft, in the nicest possible way.

There is something quite touching about the pictures.