The Reality of Motherhood: Gisele Bundchen Breaks the Norm

 

The act of a woman breastfeeding in public without a cover up creates this unnecessary feeling of shame from the public eye. The image above is from an Instagram post in 2014 from highly influential and international supermodel, Gisele Bundchen. With the caption “What would I do without this beauty squad after the 15 hours of flying and only 3 hours of sleep #multitasking #gettingready”, Gisele positions herself in a simple white robe surrounded by three member of her glam team helping her get ready for the day ahead. This post gathered noise and media attention, not because of her high status in society and glittery lifestyle, but because of her choice to post herself breastfeeding her new born baby. As the model is getting her nails, hair, and makeup done simultaneously, she is glorifying the act of feeding her child. While Gisele seems to be at peace and relaxed in this post, it is also showing her followers how tough it is to be a mom with a full time job. Her caption provides the reality of how her day has been as she travels around the world while also taking care of a newborn. Despite positioning herself in this light to make breastfeeding seem normalized, the attention that this post generated for the news proves that society believes it to not be. 

Society has this idea of women in their heads and how they should act. People have problems with mothers publicly breastfeeding because they feel that it is inappropriate or disturbing to watch. In Mary Douglas’s article, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, she builds off of Durkheim's theories and brings them into modern day examples. In this excerpt, she makes the claim that women are treated as entry points. Women tend to not receive a lot of respect from society, most specifically from men. Various social boundaries and norms encourage women to have this purity and cleanliness about themselves. Douglas categorizes acts such as breastfeeding to be a type of pollutant and dirt to society. Pollution is a symbolic meaning that varies across other religions, customs, and communities. What she means by this is that when actions seem out of place or threaten the pre established order of society, this brings fear to the people. When people are not able to make sense of behaviors, it changes their view of world order. 

The image above was posted on a public site for anyone with an account to view. By publicizing this image, Gisele is taking back this narrative that women should not be allowed to show off the more uncomfortable aspects of motherhood. The reason for people being in such an act of disgust about public breastfeeding is because they view women as sexual objects. This act of breastfeeding takes away the allure of a woman's body. When Douglas argues that society views women as an entry point, she is telling her readers that women are sexualized for the pleasure of society. Social boundaries and classifications can be reinforced through certain practices to encourage purity. For instance, women are often directed to bathrooms or encouraged to use a covering during this natural process. When women are seen breastfeeding or doing something out of the norm, their purity is lost. These assigned symbols of gender or motherhood are often strengthened through these beliefs of needing to uphold the mystery that women produce. 

Work Cited:

Douglas, Mary. 2002. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge.

Wallace, Kelly. “Why Are We Still So Squeamish About Breastfeeding?” CNN, Cable News Network, 29 Aug. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/08/29/living/breastfeeding-attitudes-parents/index.html.