Hollywood is breeding babies faster than blockbuster movies these days, scheduling C-sections between Brazilian waxes and Botox injections. In the grocery store check-out line, my gaze is constantly being diverted to magazine covers featuring baby bump shenanigans, beach ball bare alls (in stilettos no less), extravagant nurseries, and miraculous post-partum “bangin” bods.

 

The latest cover to stir some sweet controversy is none other than Brad Pitt’s private photo of a breastfeeding Angelina Jolie on the cover of W. magazine.   The baby is barely visible except for a glimpse of a tiny hand, while the charmingly bed-headed Angelina takes centre stage. I rather think the photograph is authentic looking and tasteful--and hey, no stilettos or fur coats so already it has that working for it. 

 

What I do have a problem with, however, is throwing around the term “role model” when it comes to celebrities. Santa Angelina is pictured breastfeeding in a magazine and suddenly La Leche League bestows her with the title of “champion” for their cause. I don’t mean to get my nursing bra all in a twist, but let’s examine the facts here. In a 2006 interview, the actress shared the following about her experience with breastfeeding: 

 

“I was breastfeeding (Shiloh) but I could only do so much. It’s hard…I did it for about three months and that was it. I don’t sit still well, I hate to sit still”. 

 

While three months is nothing to scoff at, it doesn’t sound like the actress was particularly fond of—well, sitting still.

 

Just like in the movies, the depiction of motherhood in the world of celebrities in no way represents the reality of the average mom. When Sporty Spice Mel C. was asked which of her fellow Spice girls she would use as a babysitter, she candidly replied: “Any of their nannies”. On the cover of People magazine, a glowing J.Lo was featured with her new twins--dressed in a brocade evening gown with her hair in a sweeping formal up-do. I’m lucky to get out of my sweatpants and into the shower on any given day!   My point, dear readers, is that celebrities are not “just like us”, as they would have us believe. These women most certainly do not pick rogue cheerios up off the floor. That’s what the hired help is for.

 

While I appreciate the draw of celebrities and their antics, I worry that when this is the bar that is set, our own lives can only pale in comparison. We are each of us the leading lady in our own story. If we’re looking for role models, we need look no further than our own reflection in the mirror. We’re the ones performing impossible feats of greatness. Anyone who’s held a newborn in one arm while collapsing a stroller with the other can appreciate what I’m getting at. Parenting is like facing off against a hundred tennis machines--armed with a single racquet. And yet, we manage. We may miss a few, or get hit square in the head with others, but manage we do.

 

So we haven’t taken the baby weight off yet. So we’re pushing around a Gracco stroller instead of the coveted Bugaboo. So we don’t set aside an hour for yoga each morning or drink spirulina smoothies. Let’s try not to be too hard on ourselves. Deal? There’s no need to marvel and wonder how Angelina Jolie does it all with six kids. Because the truth is: she doesn’t do it all. 

 

-- Sarah Simpson

   sarah@babyontheway.ca