Expectations Around Michelle Obama

Anne here. I moved early to squelch the rumours that Michelle looked pregnant in her Inauguration Day attire, writing on Jan. 21 "First Lady Only Expecting a Busy Day Ahead".

In an Internet World, where just about every website has a Google ad for "a flat stomach", obsessive body watchers have an opinion about the smallest detail of a celebrity body.

For better or worse, this speculation now involves Michelle Obama and her belly.

The Need for New News

As the post-Inauguration frenzy winds down, the fashionista crowd needs a hot topic for blogging. A couple people write a comment, and the whole world is chasing the "story".

In an effort to be responsible about this pregnancy rumour, I passed on commenting further,  even after the item appeared without any confirmation on PerezHilton.com a couple days ago.

I honestly believe the purpose of the post was to drive traffic, feeding our legitimate desire to know about the Obama family and our purient curiosity to know all the juicy details, factual or not. Especially in blog land, there is no requirement to get the facts around a story.

Blogging encourages idle speculation.

In the same way that Michelle Obama's comment about being proud of her country for the first time, continues to appear at the top of the Google News listings this week, long after America has made peace with the reference, the pregnancy rumour is taking on a life of its own, now making its way into the mainstream press.

via fibrespaceCBS News reports that a report for "Michelle Obama"+pregnant produces 826,000 results.

The Huffington Post's Bonnie Fuller did an extensive "what if" story yesterday: Michelle Obama Pregnant? Why the Nation Needs Her Bundle Of Joy.

Anything is possible here. The Obamas have said more than once, that they do not want any more children. I have no inside line to the White House.

I must wander over the MichelleObamaWatch, to get their take on the story. My only comment this morning is that I would hate to think that this story was ignited by the stupid obsession fashionistas have with commenting about every detail of a woman's body, especially the mandate for a flat stomach.

Pragmatically-speaking, the statistical probability of a 45-year-old woman getting pregnant is extremely low. Our focus should be on whether Michelle Obama will have any opinion on bio-identical hormones, the latest hot topic over at Oprah.com. (I'm a believer!)

For now, you can believe that the rumour will flourish, because it makes for great reading and even greater copy writing.

Oh my goodness . . . all in a day's work.

If Mrs. O does a feature on Jackie O's pregnancy wardrobe, I will just throw in the towel. I'm afraid to look! So far, so good.  A