While many of us were making resolutions for 2013, plenty of famous folks kicked off the new year by getting engaged.

So, in addition to news stories about holiday sales and the fiscal cliff, reporters practically fell over themselves gushing about Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel and Miley Cyrus being among dozens of stars who were officially putting a ring on it.

But at the same time, the news of other celebrities with pending nuptials weren’t trumpeted with the same widespread enthusiasm or even worse, took a backseat to acts of amoral ignorance. Singer and actress Brandy, for example, became newly engaged to music executive Ryan Press, and financier Mellody Hobson accepted the proposal from Hollywood mogul George Lucas. Last but not least, the iconic entertainer Janet Jackson, years after breaking up with music producer Jermaine Dupri, is set to exchange vows with her billionaire boyfriend, Wissam Al Mana.

But it’s probably not likely that you knew of those happy tidings before knowing that rapper and producer Kanye West kicked off 2013 by announcing the pregnancy of his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian. He made the announcement from the stage at his Atlantic City concert on Dec. 30 with the tender declaration of “Make some noise for my baby mama.” Ugh.

So, in other words, a woman who’s created an empire for herself after the leaking of an infamous sex tape (one who’s also still legally married to a man that she stayed with for an entire 72 days after a multimillion dollar wedding) garnered more publicity and attention for her adulterous escapades than all of the other women combined.

And that dubious discrepancy is a problematic one. What is so special about this self-obsessed celebutante and why is it so much more acceptable for her to flout the most basic rules of decency and common sense when others cannot?

It wasn’t that long ago, for example, that Alicia Keys and Fantasia Barrino caught all types of backlash for the relationships they conducted with still-married men: Ms. Keys received a public chastising from the reluctant soon-to-be ex-wife and still walked down the aisle with him months later. Ms. Barrino was actually sued for ‘alienation of affection’ by the present wife of her separated spouse/boyfriend.

Both delivered sons for their clandestine companions, but are still reeling professionally after being called “side chicks.” Meanwhile, West and Kardashian recently turned down a $3 million dollar offer from an overseas tabloid for the exclusive rights for the first pictures of their baby.

Am I missing something? First the media can’t report on the plight of the eternally-single Black Woman fast enough, but a trio of famous ones become ready to jump the broom and are apparently deemed less exciting than an out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the spotlight-starved expectant parents. (Although to his credit, Kanye West is a legitimately talented performer who earned his fame and fortune with hard work rather than serial dating and sexual exploits)

Luckily, Nia and Layla are too young to get caught up in the world of celebrities and their strange standards of marriage and morality. We’re not sitting courtside at basketball games or snapping up a multi-million dollar mansion in Bel-Air, but when they ask “How did you meet Daddy/Mommy?” and “Why did you get married?,” we’re able to tell them about our instant connection, how well we clicked with one another’s families and how, over a year later, greeted the first of our two children as a married couple.

The world may try and tell them that being loving and legally committed couples are mutually exclusive, but since they’ve grown up in the Jackson household, they know firsthand that being happily married, while also being African-American, isn’t exactly news.