Celebrity Motherhood, Pandemic Pregnancies, and Society’s Expectations
Featuring Emily Ratajkowski, Halsey, and Chrissy Teigen.
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Celebrity pregnancies are big business. When our favourite stars announce they’re expecting, the world watches and waits. The pandemic forced these glorified citizens to stay inside just like everyone else, and thanks to this unforeseen hibernation where there was tons of time but little to do, a lot of our famous friends are about to add to their growing broods. Eager fans want to know the gender, due date, possible baby names, and anything else there is to know about pregnant stars in the spotlight. Society once wrestled with celeb mums oversharing, but it seems like those days have long been forgotten. There’s no escaping celebrity motherhood, and with a flurry of pandemic pregnancies being one of the few good things to happen over the past year, what should we be expecting from these soon-to-be mothers in the limelight? And more importantly, should we be expecting anything from them at all?
Emily Ratajowski isn’t shy of fame. Beauty standards, body confidence, and the online abuse she’s endured over the years are topics she doesn’t shy away from, usually discussing with her immense Instagram following of 27million – and rising. The supermodel just gave birth to a little bundle of joy, Sylvester Apollo Bear (cute!), and has been very open with sharing her thoughts and feelings throughout her pregnancy journey. We know she wants to enforce as ‘few gender stereotypes’ on her child as possible, and has described pregnancy as being: “Innately lonely; it's something a woman does by herself, insider her body, no matter what the circumstances may be.”
But even someone as candid and open as Emrata can come under fire, this time for sharing photos of her postpartum body a mere few weeks after giving birth. Her flat stomach has kickstarted a widespread debate about the pressure women face to ‘snap back’, dividing social media users with many commenting on the models appearance. Ratajowski didn’t intend to be part of the conversation around post-pregnancy bodies, the discourse projected onto her is without her consent or approval. The images she shared may have a wider societal impact, but shouldn’t she be allowed to take ownership of her body image any way she wishes? Whether that’s pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy, or afterwards, does society have the right to dictate what she can and cannot post on her own platforms? The systems in place that make women feel they have to get their pre-pregnancy bodies back immediately after birthing new life are the problem here – not Ms Rata. Nobody is perfect, and no body is perfect.
26-year-old musician Halsey has experienced multiple miscarriages in the past, her struggle with endometriosis making the possibility of getting pregnant all the more difficult. Hours before taking the stage at a concert, she revealed to Rolling Stone in a 2016 interview that she took painkillers and wore an adult diaper just so she/they could perform. A vibrant character who lets her fans into the most intimate moments of her life, she/they revealed in a candid Instagram post that being pregnant had “levelled (her/their) perception of gender entirely.” Halsey also shut down speculation over her/their pregnancy in an Instagram story: “My pregnancy was 100% planned, and I tried very hard for this bb. But I would be just as happy even if it were another way.”
The back-and-forth commenting on Halsey’s pregnancy raises a deeper question about why strangers feel it’s okay to pass judgement about fertility and conception on a situation they know little about. Whether or not Halsey’s baby was planned, it doesn’t give anyone the right to comment on such a fragile and sensitive matter. As Halsey has said, her/their body is doing a “remarkable” thing. So is it fair for her/them to be critiqued for it?
Chrissy Teigen is a high-profile figure who doesn’t shy away from confrontation. She’s been known to call out everyone from your average Joe on social media, to past presidents, her sarcastic comments often have her followers in stitches (I for one can attest to this). So when she decided to share photos late last year portraying her harrowing stillbirth and the loss of her third child, she was bound to be met with an outpouring of condolences and support, as well as a ton of criticism.
In a personal essay that’s since been published on Medium, the model and author shared an intimate and graphic account of her stillbirth experience, including the decision to have photos taken throughout “no matter how uncomfortable it was”. Along with her husband, musician John Legend, they knew their baby wasn’t going to survive, so her openness demystified a very common and distressing experience a lot of women have to go through, but one that doesn’t get talked about enough. She hit back at critics in true Chrissy style, but should she have to defend herself after going through such a painful loss? That Teigen was able to use her platform to talk about a difficult pregnancy and childbirth experience, and raise awareness about a common woman’s health issue at the same time, deserves recognition and support all of its own accord.
In situations that divert from the usual pathways in life celebrities now seem more inclined to share the not so picture perfect parts of their worlds, in the hope that their openness may help others. Women in the spotlight have begun using their platforms to talk about postnatal depression, breastfeeding difficulties, birth complications, and a number of other health issues women have to endure. So many aspects of women’s health still aren’t discussed openly in modern society, and that needs to change. Celebrity motherhood, along with any other type of motherhood, requires a special type of vulnerability – it’s also an incredibly beautiful thing. The difference between us vs our celebrity counterparts is that they face a tone of public scrutiny while going through something so unique. We forget that they’re real people bringing new life into this world, how would we feel if we were under the same pressure?
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Catch you soon,
J’Nae
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
- The weekly newsletter from Adultish always interviews really cool and interesting people who have great stories to tell, and valuable insights into their careers and how they manage certain aspects of their lives.
WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING:
- I discovered this YouTube channel that documents the morning routines of people in Japan, really therapeutic!
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
- Was anyone else invested in the Bon Appétit drama on the Reply All podcast? And what do we think of their latest episode that goes into the very mistakes they made, and the future of their show?
WHAT’S CAUGHT MY EYE:
- I love street style, and it's something I've definitely been missing seeing over the course of the pandemic. The IG account @watchingnewyork documents some really good NYC street style, and reminds me of the Bill Cunningham days.
ON MY BLOG:
- Capsule wardrobes can be tricky business, and often confusing for most people. My latest blog post delves into why there is no singular universal capsule wardrobe, and no right or wrong way to attempt curating one.
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