On the Majesty of Ciara's Pregnancy

I know we say that pregnant women glow, but Ciara has turned into the goddamn sun itself ever since she and Future conceived their first child. As the R&B superstar has grown rounder and rounder, her sex appeal has increased even past the blazing hot "Body Party" sex scene levels it had previously reached.

Then again, when the best love song of the year "I Be U" is literally about you, there's plenty of reason to be emitting joy through every pregnant pore of your body. Ever since Future's sophomore album Honest hit the internet, fans and haters alike have been forced to admit that "I Be U" in all its ungrammatical glory is the AutoTune equivalent to Dante writing The Divine Comedy and dedicating it to Beatrice. The track encapsulates the overlap of emotions that occurs when you completely adore someone—their pain starts to feel like your pain, their happiness makes you happier than your own. Then there's the incredible harmonies that were honestly what Dante was probably writing about in Paradiso when he enters heaven for the first time. Only Future could take vocal correction software and evoke celestial glory with it. Just as Beatrice inspired Dante to craft the world's greatest epic poem, Ciara as muse of Future and vice versa has helped them elevate each other's art. (Too bad Beatrice didn't have Instagram though, insert sad-emoji face here).

One of the best aspects of Ciara's recent social media output though has been her subversion of expectations about how pregnant women should behave. Watching her dance to Future's Pharrell-assisted banger "Move That Dope" is even better than her glamorous W cover shoot. Part of the reason we obsess over social media is because it cuts out the media middleman and lets artists and celebrities reveal their personality unfiltered—somehow this video feels like a real look at the Ciara that hangs out with Future all day at home. There's nothing better than watching one of the most beautiful, famous R&B singers in the world dance to a club banger that her fiancée made while enormously pregnant. It seems like culture sometimes wants pregnant women to shut down, act all demure and shit, but Ciara staunchly refuses to turn down. We should respect that.

Look at her recent, spectacular cover shoot for W Magazine for starters. In one photo Ciara wore a one-piece swim suit with a leather jacket. There's nothing that says "I'm pregnant" less than a leather jacket, and yet, Ciara makes it seem like the most natural move ever to rock leather over a black Lycra one piece. Obviously, the best thing about pregnant photo shoots is having really stretchy fabric tightly highlight the baby bump—she pulls this off effortlessly whether it be an evening gown or a swimsuit.

The other cool thing about being a celebrity is just casually running into other celebrities at very fancy boutiques. Ciara ran into Ludacris, who insisted they take a selfie and then tweeted a baby bump pun at her.

We know that they're having a boy, because Ciara decorated her baby shower in blue, and Future accidentally referenced him as a boy in an interview (apparently, Future wanted a boy but CiCi wanted a girl). Anyway, to celebrate she invited Kim Kardashian and accidentally looked better than her while pregnant and wearing a mumu! Still, Ciara said that Kim gave her advice on how to work a stroller, which is sweet.

There's no footage of Future screaming at paparazzi, and Ciara hasn't released any info about an in-home archive dedicated to herself, so they get less media attention, and in some ways seem a lot more stable. It seems like their son will have a much better shot at being a normal kid than say, Blue Ivy or North. In Beyonce's 2013 documentary, she treated her pregnancy almost as a wound, explaining it as a terrifying, fragile time in her life. Whereas Ciara is celebrating the process with reckless abandon, and has repeatedly said how much she is treasuring this time because she knows it won't last forever. Which is the other thing about her recent stunting that's refreshing—she isn't really acting like a celebrity and grooming her image to be polished and perfect, as Bey is often accused of doing. Instead, she's glorying in how funny and awkward being pregnant can be, tweeting about how she can't see her feet or how getting kicked in the ribs by your in utero kid really hurts.

Even though she's pregnant, Ciara is still focusing on herself and her own life—this period hasn't limited any of her regular activities. Okay, perhaps it has mildly affected her turn up abilities, but that's only temporary. I'm personally really looking forward to hearing Future rap about getting a babysitter so he and CiCi can have a night out on his next mixtape. But for right now, they're still going to the beach and they're still attending black tie events. Aside from how much more fabulous Ciara's sneakers are than any couture high heels any of us will ever own, they look like just any other couple relaxing in the surf. The baby and her excitement about it hasn't overtaken her identity, but has merely become an extension of her already awesome presence.

Instead of fretting over weight gain or going on bed rest, Ciara kept right on living her life throughout, and celebrating the moment. This is the kind of behavior that her son will look back on one day with admiration. If Ciara won't let being eight months pregnant stop her from wearing a bejeweled golden gown out, why are you letting anything stop you from stunting EVER?

Caitlin White graduated from the sabotages. She's on Twitter - @harmonicait

For more things about lurve, read our ode to the mysterious beauty of French Montana and Khloe Kardashian's relationship, plus interviews with Ty Dolla $ign and Plies about fucking.