Why Scarlett Johansson Was “So Protective” of Her Pregnancies With Kids Rose and Cosmo

There’s a reason Scarlett Johansson committed to a mum’s the word stance during both of her pregnancies.

During a recent conversation with Vanity Fair published Mar. 1, the mother of 7-year-old Rose and 7-month-old Cosmo (with ex Romain Dauriac
and husband Colin Jost, respectively) shared why she was particularly protective over her body while she was expecting both of her children.

While speaking about how the postpartum phase has been since giving birth to her son last August, Scarlett, 37, said that she kept her pregnancy out of the public eye because she did not want to be “scrutinized” by people.

“I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me, whether it was positive or negative,” she explained to the publication. “I realized when I was pregnant with my son, it’s funny how much stuff people put on you when you’re pregnant—their hopes or their judgment or their desire, a lot of that is put on pregnant women.”

Though Scarlett was thrilled to be expecting both times, she said there were definitely moments when she didn’t wholly love the experience. (Because, hello, nausea, exhaustion and an entire host of ailments still exist.)

“I would have a lot of people saying things to me immediately, like, ‘How great, oh my God, that’s wonderful,'” the Lucy actress told Vanity Fair. “And while I was definitely excited to be pregnant in some ways, I also had a lot of not-great feelings about it, and that would be scrutinized by—I’m talking about, like, women that were close to me. You expect it from men, but from women, it’s like, ‘Come on, girl, you’ve been through it.'”

Although strides have been made for women, Scarlett believes we still have a long way to go when it comes to how we view pregnancy and parenting.

“I feel like a lot of things have moved forward in the past five years in terms of women’s empowerment, but that thing remains sort of in the Dark Ages,” she said. “So much judgment it’s crazy.”