Can We Talk About How Beyonce Totally Mommyjacked The VMAs For A Second?

The outpouring of love that Beyonce has received from both fellow celebrities and her fans after announcing her pregnancy is really wonderful. Considering the discrimination that pregnant women and mothers often face in the workplace, it really is lovely to see motherhood be so celebrated in such a public forum like the MTV Music Video Awards.

And yes, it’s fantastic that despite her professional success she was able to hit her personal milestone of having a baby at 30. And yes, it is lovely that Clint Eastwood is willing to push back the production of his film so that B won’t lose her role due to being pregnant. But does it bother anyone that — to borrow an expression from STFU Parents — Beyonce essentially “mommyjacked” the entire show with her pregnancy announcement?

Beyonce is already considered a top performer by both those in and outside the industry, and any event where she will be performing is already guaranteed to be showstopping. So then why did the Grammy winner feel compelled to use the VMAs as her platform to announce her news? In theory, the award show was generated to acknowledge the work and efforts of the music industry’s most talented (or most publicized) performers. So then why choose to monopolize the show with not only an outstanding performance, which the superstar always manages to pull off — but personal, tabloid-fevered news?

Lindsay Cross, one of our contributors, pointed out that the VMAs presented an opportunity for the triple threat to “claim” her pregnancy as a famous woman.

“I think it was a nice way to announce it ‘on her terms’ I guess,” observed Lindsay. “So many tabloids and websites speculate on when a woman in pregnant. There have been rumors about Beyonce having kids for years, I feel like. I think it was more about claiming the pregnancy and her announcement as hers to make, not so much trying to steal the show from anyone else.”

A valid point considering that every time a starlet leaves her house in a loose-fitting blouse, she is instantly speculated to be pregnant. Any hint of “extra” flesh or bulges are circled with red pen and offered up to viewers in zoomed-in, blurry images that they are encouraged to study without hesitation. Women in the public eye don’t so much “announce” their pregnancies as much as they succumb to them — with watchful eyes, gossip columns, reporters, and the world at large saying that they were right all along.

Perhaps Beyonce’s decision to use the show as her platform was more celebratory for her than the standard press release with the obligatory two lines about how she just can’t wait to be a mother. Or maybe it was just her manager’s idea.

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