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’18 and Pregnant?’: Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga have been telling people to stop commenting on women’s bodies for decades, but they refuse to listen

How are we still having this conversation?!

Screengrabs of Lady Gaga's video on TikTok and Taylor Swift performing in Lyon, France.
Screengrabs via TikTok

After Lady Gaga used a Taylor Swift song to deny pregnancy rumors, the “Fortnight” singer made sure to support Gaga and throw in a reminder for her own fans in the process.

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Any time a female celebrity (or any woman for that matter) doesn’t have an unrealistically flat stomach, pregnancy rumors automatically ensue. Earlier this month, a TikTok clip creepily scrutinizing Taylor Swift’s body while performing on her record-breaking Eras Tour went viral, sparking rumors that the musician could be pregnant. Then on Monday, Jun. 3, a similar rumor about Lady Gaga made headlines when she was seen simply existing at her sister’s wedding.

It might not seem like it, but celebrities have internet access too, and Swift and Gaga’s prompt responses to the chatter proved it. In less than 24 hours, the latter shared a TikTok video telling her followers she was “not pregnant,” while also using the opportunity to urge them to register to vote and quote the chorus of Swift’s “Down Bad” in the same breath.

@ladygaga

register to vote or check if you’re registered EASILY at www.headcount.org

♬ I AM THE AESTHETIC _yaesthetician – yas 💚🌻🍭🫧

On Wednesday, Swift acknowledged the video commenting, “Can we all agree that its [sic] invasive & irresponsible to comment on a woman’s body. Gaga doesn’t owe anyone an explanation & neither does any woman” — which she concluded with a sassy kiss emoji. To Swift’s fans and anyone keeping up with celebrity gossip, it was clear that the message wasn’t just about her colleague. It also served as a dig at those who had been directing the same kind of “invasive and irresponsible” gaze at her.

Even before Swift commented on Gaga’s TikTok page, she already seemingly denied being pregnant while performing “But Daddy I Love Him” at her first concert in Lyon, France, by placing more emphasis than usual on the “No, I’m not” half of the song’s “I’m having his baby” verse. The entire song is a cautionary tale about “judgemental creeps” and “vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing,” so it fit the occasion perfectly.

@swiftiesaunite

🎥 Taylor is clearly telling those people SHE NOT HAVING HIS BABY SO LET HER BE 🫶🏼SHE #lyontstheerastour #MadridTStheErasTour #TaylorSwift #TSTheErasTour

♬ But Daddy I Love Him – Taylor Swift

The aggressive probing takes on especially disturbing contours when reminded that both Gaga and Swift have admitted to struggling with eating disorders in the past. The former confessed to suffering from bulimia and anorexia since she was 15 back in 2012, while a significant portion of Swift’s 2020 Miss Americana documentary focuses exactly on the effect media attention had on her relationship with her body.

It’s not good for me to see pictures of myself every day. (…) A picture of me where I feel like I looked like my tummy was too big, or… someone said that I looked pregnant … and that’ll just trigger me to just starve a little bit — just stop eating.”

Speaking toVariety, the 34-year-old “Cruel Summer” singer revealed that she was 18 years old when she appeared on the cover of a magazine for the first time, and the headline said something along the lines of “Pregnant at 18?” all because, in her words, she “had worn something that made my lower stomach look not flat.”

When Gaga first spoke about her eating disorders, it was also in response to pregnancy speculation. A few months prior, she was asked by a younger fan at a conference in a Los Angeles school about body image. Her response is depressingly suitable for the events of the last few days.

Weight is still a struggle. Every video I’m in, every magazine cover, they stretch you — they make you perfect. It’s not real life … I’m gonna say this about girls: The dieting wars have got to stop. Everyone, just knock it off. Because at the end of the day, it’s affecting kids your age. And it’s making girls sick.”

Not only were Gaga and Swift’s words almost identical, but they were also expressed 12 and 4 years ago, respectively. And yet, nothing much has changed. Pregnancy rumors still circulate when, in truth, they are just a façade for pointing the finger at the bodies of celebrities who dare not be a size 0.

Putting others down has long been a way to make certain people feel better about themselves, but we promise, even if they are sick and tired of dealing with the same ridiculous comments for decades now, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are still going to sell out stadiums and break records while their detractors spend their time on social media recycling the same old juiceless gossip.