There’s a certain etiquette to adhere to when it comes to pregnant ladies, and we’re not talking about giving them your seat on the bus (although that’s a nice thing to do).
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No, we’re talking about something a lot more hands on. Or hands off, as the case may be. Actress Ellie Kemper knows the score. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star revealed that she’s been both fascinated and horrified by the number of people who can’t stop touching her growing belly since she’s been pregnant.
“Now I’m showing, and I don’t know what goes through a person’s mind — a stranger’s mind, no less — when they think, ‘Oh yes, your stomach is something that now belongs to me, and I can touch it,'” she said. “It’s actually crazy.”
“In a way, I think it’s a nice reminder of humanity, but then I quickly go back to the idea that you wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t pregnant,” she added.
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Lots of women will relate to how Kemper feels. While some moms-to-be are happy to have their bumps touched, rubbed and patted, others can’t stand it. Some women don’t even like their closest friends and families getting too close.
If you think about it, it really is a violation of personal space. Sure, it may be done with the best of intentions, but pregnancy can be icky and uncomfortable and bizarre at the best of times, without having a complete stranger’s fingerprints all over your baby bump. If you wouldn’t walk up to a stranger in the street and start touching their belly, why the hell is it OK to do it when there’s a baby in there?
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There’s a simple solution to this problem, of course: If you wanna touch the bump, just ask first.
Before you go, check out our slideshow below:
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