Pregnancy is one of those unique experiences in duality where a pregnant woman is expected, on the one hand, to go on living her live as if nothing about her body or life is changing, and, on the other hand, to fully embrace being a pregnant woman and mother.
It's impossible to perform both of these roles, and women inevitably are judged by someone no matter which experience they choose: continuing their life as if they're not pregnant or taking a break from their usual life to embrace their pregnancy.
When a woman tries to do both, people are inevitably going to talk. And when that woman is in the public eye, there's bound to be ample discussion.
These are surely some of the feelings that Olympian gymnast Shawn Johnson has been feeling as the gold medalist is now 34 weeks pregnant.
But this past week, she took to Instagram to show that she's not letting her retirement from the balance beam or her pregnancy slow her down.
In a viral video, boasting a nearly to-term belly, Johnson showed off her skills by doing a handstand with the assistance of the side of her house, while also giving a thumbs-up while upside-down, and performing a perfect cartwheel.
She captioned the video:
"Center of gravity is def way different!"
Most endearingly, Johnson's husband, Andrew East, questioned how she was able to do all of these things while pregnant.
After slipping a 25-pound pumpkin under his shirt and boasting an even bigger belly than Johnson's pregnant one, East tried and failed to replicate her moves. His feet barely stayed off the ground during his cartwheel, and he was only able to do a headstand instead of a handstand.
Several times throughout the video, East loudly exclaims:
"How are you doing this? You are an animal!"
In a comment on the video, Johnson said with a laugh-crying emoji:
"Maybe someday he'll acknowledge or understand that I was a decent gymnast!"
You can watch the video here:
Fellow Instagrammers were blown away by Johnson's abilities.
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
And people couldn't get enough of East's performance, either.
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
@shawnjohnson/Instagram
The video was an endearing reminder that a woman's pregnancy is not her entire identity, and that becoming pregnant does not cancel out all of the achievements she had before becoming pregnant.
If anything, it should be a testament to just how much that woman can do. If someone like Shawn Johnson can still do solid-form gymnastics while nearly ready for delivery, that should be even more confirmation that she was—and is— an excellent gymnast!
@tulipanet/Bluesky
@which–witch–ru/Bluesky
@phillip–rees/Bluesky
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social