Tia Mowry Nails Why You Should Never Ask A Woman If She's Pregnant

Actress Tia Mowry is having a pretty good year, except for one tiny detail: people can’t stop picking her apart for her weight. In a recent appearance on HuffPost Live, Mowry talked about the shaming comments and pregnancy rumors that have plagued her for months, and she took the opportunity to nail down why asking a woman if she’s pregnant is so totally unacceptable.

Mowry, who hosts a cooking show called Tia Mowry At Home, told HuffPost Live interviewer Nancy Redd that she is not pregnant, she’s “just happy.” She adds, “I’ve gained these 10 or 15 pounds because of my cooking show … I’m just enjoying life and when I want to drop the pounds, I will, but right now I’m happy with who I am.”

The 37-year-old mom says she has no issues with her body right now. Rather, she takes issue with the persistent baby rumors and rude comments from fans on social media. Pregnancy rumors, she says, are based on assumptions about how she should look and what kind of body she should have, and Mowry wants to make it clear: asking a woman if she’s pregnant “is a form of body shaming.” Says Mowry, “We live in a society that is so obsessed with being perfect … Why can’t we just be us?”

This isn’t the first time Mowry has been forced to deny pregnancy rumors, nor is it the first time she’s been vocal in calling out her haters. A few weeks ago, the actress took to Instagram to address the persistent pregnancy questions, posting a photo of a pregnancy test that reads, “Just fat.”

Despite that, the actress says the comments and questions still haven’t stopped, and she wants people to know it’s not okay. “I think we need to be more supportive with body images,” she told HuffPost Live. “And I’m talking about in magazines, advertisement[s] in regard to what’s sexy and what’s not sexy. We all need to be a little more supportive of each other. I think if we start there, we’ll see a difference.”

Tons of women have stories about being asked if they’re pregnant when they aren’t, and Mowry is totally right: it is a form of body-shaming. It’s a not-so-subtle way of pointing out that a woman doesn’t look the way she’s “supposed” to, and it’s a product of the ridiculous standards we set for women’s bodies. Men are allowed to put on a few pounds, have a belly, or let their attention to their physical appearance fluctuate with the demands in their lives. Women are rarely afforded that same flexibility, and that needs to change.

Kudos to Mowry for pointing out how rude it is to comment on a woman’s appearance by asking if she’s expecting, and for reminding us that we should all be more supportive and accepting of one another. There’s a lot more to each of us than the numbers on the scale, and we should be celebrating our joys and accomplishments instead of picking each other apart.

(Featured image via Instagram)