'Cos My Belly Too Beautilicious'?
By Sayeda Says (Dr Sayeda Abu-Amero)
“Like fashion, what makes a woman size ‘ideal’ is forever changing with time and space. ”
When Naz sent me a voice message asking me to appear on the BBC radio show with Sunny and Shay to talk about any two newsworthy articles this week, Kate Winslet and her bulging tummy had to be one.
Not because it is newsworthy, but bulging tummies affect women all over the world at one time or another, whether real or perceived. From being naturally curvy or fat to PMT bloating to post-pregnancy to post houmous and bread.
All of these apply to me.
Our mother tells us that when she was pregnant with me, she was told to expect twins. There was some disappointment when only I showed up (I probably ate the other twin in utero) and was placed on my first diet at the age of two. It's my excuse anyway. I will not lie - of course there are times that I wish I could slink around in spaghetti strapped silk and wear a two piece bikini without shorts and a swim dress and an abaya style kaftan. But I admit, most of the time I really don't care. So long as my vital signs are good (I have the blood pressure of a 20 year old) I thank God every day that I am healthy if not slinky.
Like fashion, what makes a woman size 'ideal' is forever changing with time and space. Venus (pictured - please note voluptuous curves and short curly hair) was probably the inspiration for the Teletubbies. Twiggy style came much much later. In Mauritania, if you are not fat, you are considered poor. The rest of us fit in between.
Kate's point in this article is specifically about the female middle aged spread that attacks us all as we hit our late forties and early fifties, exaggerated by the hormonal war waged on our insides and outsides during the decade long journey to menopause.
Out with my girlfriends and taking selfies and photos involves a lot of filters and sucking in of midriffs and camera angling. 50 shots later, there will be a photo which does not show a rounded tummy (the trick is to stand tall, slightly suck in the stomach, tilt the hips forward to create an illusion of a concave space somewhere). Or just crop the photo. That's why I prefer taking photographs of food.
Men have bellies and are quite comfortable letting it all hang out, peek between straining shirt buttons and shed belly hair on the carpet when they can't tuck that too tight t-shirt into their trousers hanging on to camouflaged hips for dear life. On my daily tube commute, the man spreading may simply be to allow the thighs a respite from the load bearing. Do they blush? No. To those men who think it is acceptable to comment on a woman putting on weight as she ages, balding is a sign that you are ageing - do we ask you to grow your hair back?
DR SAYEDA ABU-AMERO
Sayeda Abu-Amero holds a BSc in Human Genetics, a PhD in Fungal Molecular Virology and spent 29 years in academia working on genetic and epigenetic factors involved in human fetal growth and development. She started and managed the Baby Bio Bank for 6 years, an international repository of biological samples for researchers interested in complications of pregnancy and taught for most of her time at university, including running the MSc in Genetics of Human Disease at UCL, in her capacity as Senior Teaching Fellow.
Sayeda's passion for food and eating is extraordinary and was instrumental in her decision to leave academia and move into the hospitality industry. She is one of the managing directors of the Hiba Restaurants, a Palestinian run family business, which started with Hiba Express in Holborn in 2013 and currently has five locations in London.
Sayeda is also the former chair of Waltham Forest Women's Network, where she taught bellydance and is an avid reader of fiction. Sayeda is mum to one beautiful daughter and comes as a package deal with her two sisters.
