My Defense of Gisele

Holy moly did my Facebook page EXPLODE when I shared the pic of Gisele that made the rounds recently. I don’t think I’ve seen such a divided reaction in ages.  The critics were up in arms that she claimed to be multi-tasking, when for most of us multitasking doesn’t involve getting your nails and hair done.  Some also thought that she had posed the photo, or that she shouldn’t have exploited her breastfeeding on her Instagram account.

Now, I’m not always a huge Gisele supporter, especially when she makes blanket statements that judge the way other moms parent.  But in this instance?  I think the detractors have it wrong. First of all, for those that claim it was staged?  Of COURSE it looked staged – Gisele is a professional model!  I’d bet that she looks that glamorous in virtually every photo she’s in.  And I certainly can’t fault her for sharing a breastfeeding pic with the world.  It is certainly nothing to be ashamed about, and I applaud her for making it look so glamorous.

The bulk of the negativity stems around the fact that she claimed to be multitasking.  I get Gisele is not an ‘every mom’ type of woman and her ‘doing it all’ is not representative of everyone out there (I’m guessing most of us don’t have private jets / nannies / glam squad!) but can we stop hating on people because their lives are different from our own?  From everything we’ve seen, even with her career Gisele seems to be a really good, hands-on mom. Besides, everyone has different challenges during the day.  Just because she is blessed with a very glamorous life, that shouldn’t mean she can’t ever make a comment about her life.  Some people are chronically ill but does that mean one can never complain about being a little under the weather? I can see, of course, that most people don’t see ‘multitasking’ as getting your hair done and breastfeeding at the same time. Except, it is! Certainly not the kind we all get to experience, but in this case being beautiful is as much her job as it is the job of a surgeon to operate. And I would certainly consider surgery while breastfeeding to be multitasking! (Though definitely NOT one I would recommend!)

I also have an issue with the woman-on-woman hate. When it comes down to it, Gisele simply posted a picture of feeding her child in the middle of a chaotic beauty chair session preparing for work. I’m sure that if a pic was posted of her hubby lifting weights and being interviewed on ESPN while feeding the babe he would have been applauded! As my Facebook follower Janay said, “This is [Gisele’s] reality and that is just fine. The great thing is in the midst of all the glitz and glamour, she’s nursing her child, being the best mom she can be. That should always get applause. Let’s stop bashing moms who are doing their best to care for and love on their little ones!!”   Exactly.