The following is an excerpt from an article on MSNBC.com today about celebrities setting such a high standard for regular women to follow post-pardum:
Elaine Schoch once loved nothing more than spending her Sunday mornings flipping through the “mind-numbing” celebrity-filled pages of Us Weekly. Then something happened: her daughter Samantha, born Feb. 4, 2008. “I decided to subscribe right before I had my baby so I could still read the gossip every weekend,” says Schoch, a 31-year-old public relations maven from Denver. “But then I just got depressed. They’d have all these beautiful pictures of Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie and they’d be talking about how they lost all their baby weight. It made me feel bad about myself. So I canceled my subscription.”
I and my judgemental self have so many snide things to say about this, I am not even sure where to begin. I could write such a long, snark-filled post that I would probably lose a few readers. But I will just say this, half-snarky (yes, this is me at half-speed) response.
Perhaps if Ms. Schoch cared less about how celebrity moms look after childbirth and more about what a miracle she had in her midst, her emotional well-being wouldn't depend on what she read in Us Magazine. There are so many other things in the days after childbirth, and heck - regular life - to help you fall victim to depression, that the last thing one should do is allow celebrity magazines and gossip to have an impact on your thoughts, your feelings, your self-esteem.
And furthermore, perhaps if Ms. Schoch invested her time on Sunday mornings on something a little deeper than "flipping through the mind-numbing pages" of Us Magazine, her thought processes wouldn't be so shallow.
Hey, I agree it's hard sometimes to see celebrities with their trim bodies and hear them talk about how glorious and easy parenting is - with their personal trainers, nannies, chefs, assistants, etc. I like scanning celebrity websites and flipping through People Magazine, too. But it's entertainment, folks! It doesn't impact my day, my life, or my self-worth. Now the impact on impressionable kids - that's a whole other ball of wax.
Come to think of it, thank God I don't let celebrity lives affect my emotions. Compare myself to Christina Aguilera? I'd have to switch to a diet of lettuce and air - and cut off my head.
And lettuce is only good smooshed up against a glob of mayo or drenched in ranch dressing. Duh.
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