By Sunmola Olowookere

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Tracy was ecstatic to welcome the news of her pregnancy. After five years of marriage, who would not be? What with mother-in-law’s pressure, along with family and friends expectancy, it was a hellish five years for her, until luck smiled on her.
As she watched the bulge grew, she began to take pictures. Nothing old fashioned for her; she took trendy pictures, semi-nude and nude ones she had seen expectant mothers like her took on the social media.
Some were so daring as they wore only undies showing off polished skin and their well oiled bulge while a dotting male would smile lazily into the camera behind them.
In some, the men would place hands possessively on the bulge as if to say “I did it!”.
However, Tracy knew that her husband was too old fashioned to take such photographs along with her.
She took the pictures up till her last trimester and uploaded the shots on the social media with some gloating caption to show the “haters” that her prayers had been answered.
Unfortunately, she was not prepared for her husband’s reaction to her “celebration”. The man was livid on seeing his wife almost in her birthday glory. He vehemently spoke against the action of his wife. It was a dent to his masculine ego to see her shamelessly bare her nudity to the world.
The fallout was a threatening factor in their marriage.
The bond the husband and wife shared vanished because of the woman’s decision to flaunt her pregnancy for all to see.
The man, a Nigerian whose name was conspicuously absent in all the news reports, had angrily threatened to divorce his wife for posting and sharing her baby shower photos whilst wearing only pant and brassier. Whether he made good his threat, no one could ever say.
There are a lot of things some people feel normal to share on social media such as the food they eat, monies they cash out, birthdays, naked photos, and nude pregnancy pictures was one of them.
This Nigerian man is a typical example of those who do not believe in sharing personal pictures online. To him, such things are best hidden.
At a time when feminists advocate against pictures demeaning womanhood, it is sad that it was women themselves demeaning their gender.
Indeed the practice is not new. Research showed that Nigerian ladies especially the celebrities have been engaging in such practices for almost a decade now.
In 2015, a heavily pregnant Nollywood actress, Dior Chidera Adiele, posed completely nude in her photos.
The photos which she claimed came about as a means of celebrating her pregnancy and body caused a stir since they appeared on the internet. While some gave her kudos, most people gave her knocks.
The contentious pictures were said to have been taken on 24th June, 2015.
The actress, Dior, shot into limelight through her role in ‘The Blur. She was also a video vixen, since she featured in one of Reekado Banks’s music videos.
Since, she has not been the only one. Other bold actresses and artists have followed suit.
It is a dangerous trend; one of such practices which is alien to our culture that we acquired from the whites. Before, it was some celebrities in overseas countries that were in the habit of sharing their bulging tummies on the social media. Some would even post the videos of their baby’s delivery for all to see.
To the whites who are less inhibited, nude photo shoots aren’t just for magazines such as Playboy Bunnies. More women are baring all while pregnant in boudoir-style photo shoots
According to reports, celebrities like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Mariah Carey who were all inspired by Demi Moore took nude pregnancy pictures.
They claim that they took the naked pictures to preserve how beautiful pregnancy is.
One of them had posted “You have that natural pregnancy glow, making your skin look fabulous, and oxytocin, the natural feel-good drug, is pumping through you, making you happy all day, even when your body is aching, heaving. Your body, and life, are both going through one of the largest transformations you will ever undertake. Why not capture the moment, and celebrate it?”
These ladies claim that they do these risqué shoots to feel sexy at a time when their self-esteems could use a much-needed boost.
This post is self explanatory “Yes, even your fattest of jeans are too small right now. Yes, you can’t even reach your shoe strings let alone stand the thought of wearing a G-string (granny panties, anyone?). But, no, that doesn’t mean you aren’t attractive! The proof is in the photographer’s proofs. Embrace your newfound curves, and capture a priceless keepsake for you and your honey.”
This shows a feeling of inadequacy despite the beautiful life that was growing inside them.
While many women are lining up to get their nude pregnancy pictures taken, there are still a lot of ladies who think the whole idea is just plain obscene, or downright embarrassing for their future children.
Some of the women although not bold or daring enough to do such cannot make seem to make up their minds: Are nude pregnancy pics cheap and trashy or sweet and classy?
However, it seems to tilt more towards the bizarre as most people over there are not really taken with the idea. Some of their family members do feel awkward when such pictures surfaced on the social media.
However, some Nigerian ladies have adopted the contentious trend although it is overwhelmingly unpopular. The public opinion against it is almost virulent as some visitors on the social media that are confronted by the pictures of their bulging tummies sometimes curse and abuse such women.
However, despite the fact that the trend is enveloped with more criticisms than accolades, others still do same.
It is totally unafrican to display a tummy bulging with pregnancy before people’s glare. Many see it as offensive and many believe that it could attract the evil eye and bring ill-luck upon the mother and the child.
It was a known practice for a woman with an advanced pregnancy to avoid going out more than it was necessary then. In fact, to our mothers then, the fewer people who knew about their pregnancy, the better.
For our generation however, all those cares no longer matter. It is due to the influence of this same social media craze in the world now.