These 11 Women Redefined The Way The World Looks At Pregnancy & Profession

When it was recently revealed that Wonder Woman¡¯s protagonist, Gal Gadot, filmed while five months pregnant, the world hailed her as a superhero. Not so long ago through her Instagram feed, news broke that tennis player, Serena Williams not only played in, but also won the Australian Open at eight weeks pregnant, and then also the public applauded her generously.

Mass media and cultural baggage often portray pregnant women as fragile creatures that must move and do very little in order to protect what is growing inside them. Most of the pictures of pregnant women on social platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram colour women are frail people, standing or sitting still. It's not surprising then when people are surprised at pregnant women ¡°achieving¡± things ¨C don¡¯t you think though that winning a tennis match is a great, big deal, whether or not you are pregnant?

Serena Williams and Gal Gadot, actually, were just fulfilling the expectations of their jobs of a tennis player and actress, respectively just how thousands of women do every day around the world. In the spirit of acknowledging and applauding everyday women who go to their jobs, homes and lives while pregnant, here are women who didn¡¯t let pregnancy stop them:

1. Serena Williams

bleacher report/nyt

Serena is the number one female tennis player in the world, who¡¯s held that spot for a long time coming now. This year when she won the Australian Open, it wasn¡¯t a huge surprise, given her score-record. But, when weeks later, she posted a snapchat of her 20-week belly bump, people connected the dots and realised that she was pregnant when participating in the tournament.

2. Gal Gadot

movie pool/business insider

Wonder Woman of Hollywood¡¯s first female superhero film created a storm when she revealed that the actress was actually five months pregnant at the time of shooting. Directors decided to cut a triangle in her superhero suit for a tummy to sit comfortably.

3. Amal Clooney

mz-web

Time Magazine was criticised for deflecting from the human rights lawyer¡¯s important and passionate speech ISIS in Iraq and instead focusing on her pregnant belly.

Amal Clooney shows off her baby bump at the United Nations https://t.co/0Vkr8aad1D

¡ª TIME (@TIME) March 10, 2017

People were quick to point out where Time went wrong, and rightly so:

That's all you guys have to say about an intelligent woman speaking out on atrocities in the world?

¡ª RobotBreakPlanet (@PlanetWalter) March 10, 2017

However, her commitment to her job is what stood at the end of the day.

4. Beyonce

Earlier this year in February, the pop-star performed at the Grammy¡¯s while pregnant with twins. It was amazing to see her on the stage, while for most women it is expected that they stay away from work.

5. Nur Suryani Taibi

christian science monitor

The Malaysian shooter holds the record for participating at the Olympics when closest to giving birth. She is also the first female shooter from Malaysia to have participated in the sporting competition.

6. Cornelia Pfohl

AFP

The German archer competed in the Olympics while pregnant, not once but twice! The first time was in 2000 and she won bronze at the Sydney games. The second time was in 2004 in Athen, when she was seven months pregnant.

7. Kerri Walsh Jennings

fusion kinja

The American player won her third gold in beach volleyball at the London Olympics while five weeks pregnant.

8. Kristine Moore

canadian olympic committee

In 2010, the Canadian curler won a silver medal at the Vancouver Olympics while she was five months pregnant.

9. MIA

lainey gossip

Beyonce isn¡¯t the only pop star to have performed pregnant at the Grammy¡¯s. In 2009, MIA performed, rapped rather, at the Grammy¡¯s on her due date!!

10. Alysia Montano

nbcolympics

Five-time 800m champion, this US athlete ran at the US Track and Field Championships at 34 weeks pregnant. She said, ¡°I¡¯ve been running throughout my pregnancy and I felt really, really good during the whole process.¡±

11. Susan Wojcicki

nbc news

The CEO of Google was pregnant when she joined the tech company, and recently she was pregnant with her fifth one. And with this let's look around to the thousands of pregnant women who go about their daily lives with ease and no fuss.

These women have set an example for the rest to make a choice about how they wish to spend the period of pregnancy. At the end, it is up to an individual woman to decide how she wishes to live. But these and several other women have broken the sterotypes about pregnancy and profession.