Headlines across the globe screamed: ‘Jen’s pregnant!’. There was no need to ask, ‘Jen who?’. Legions of us stopped what we were doing to pore over this latest episode of Ms Aniston’s real-life soap opera. Could it possibly be true? ‘But... she’s 47!’ was the first thought. The frenzy around the ‘baby bump’ story gathered such momentum, Jennifer was forced to deny rumours, saying, ‘For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up... fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs under the guise of “journalism”, the “First Amendment” and “celebrity news”.’*
It’s not a new narrative. Looking back through the celebrity magazine archives, the headlines follow a familiar pattern: ‘Jen: Pregnant at 40!’; ‘My baby is a miracle!’; ‘Pregnant and alone!’; ‘It’s a girl!’; and, more recently, ‘Yes, I’m pregnant – with twins!’ The latter ran last year in OK! Magazine, illustrated with a fake ultrasound scan, helpfully captioned in microscopic type: ‘Dramatisation’.
Aniston is clearly exasperated. ‘I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me; on women – that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated. I don’t think it’s fair. You may not have [had] a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t mothering – dogs, friends, friends’ children...’ she said recently.**