Selling Motherhood
by Harlequin
I just had to comment on the latest Angelina Jolie news. You know, the one where she is breastfeeding on the cover of W magazine. I will not deny it – for the most part, I think the concept is great. As a woman, she looks real, beautiful, but most of all she looks happy.
Still, I am ridiculously sick of hearing about Brad and Angelina. While I give her props for the breastfeeding photo shoot (which was actually done by hubby Brad), I feel as if she is constantly trying to do things for shock value. Making out with her brother, wearing a blood-filled vial around her neck…she has created an un-shockable persona. This reminds me of Demi Moore’s nude pregnancy shot for Vanity Fair. Sure, I like the idea of having a positive attitude towards pregnant and breastfeeding women (I find it strangely attractive), but does the process of sexualization ever end? It’s not as if we even see anything; in fact there is a little hand right over her nipple. But we all know men and women alike love Angelina for her sex appeal, otherwise I doubt we would be obsessing about her newest kid or a picture of her breast that might as well have been her in a low cut evening gown. I would find it a bit more heartwarming if I didn’t feel as if it was another ploy for Hollywood hype. Something about it just seems so ingenuine – even if it is a “family” affair.
Not only that, but apparently Angelina is raking in the cash based on her status as one of the “most bankable” faces in the world. Especially during this economic crisis, when our exorbitant consumer culture is threatened with a recession, magazines are clamoring for stars like Ms. Jolie who will sell covers. And whipping out her breast will surely sell magazines. It is a telling sign, though, that this same idea was conceptualized on the cover of Babytalk magazine two years ago – except it definitely did not receive positive feedback. People thought it was disgusting and inappropriate, while Angelina Jolie is being praised by La Leche League International, an organization for breastfeeding. Perhaps Ms. Jolie’s photo is a bit more tasteful for those who might be offended by a baby sucking on a full breast, but I feel as if we welcome the cover of W magazine because it is someone beautiful and famous. In the end, it’s all about sex appeal, and celebrities can carry it off. Women discussing the cover of Babytalk worry about their husbands or sons looking at it, not the actual breast itself. And maybe that is what bothers me.
So I am not sure how I feel about this photo. Part of me thinks it is a positive step for women’s bodies, but the other part of me strongly feels that this is just another example of advertising that objectifies women. Except that now, we are objectifying hot women who have babies. It’s great that we are finding pregnant women and new mothers to be sexually appealing (God knows my future husband damn well better) instead of calling them fat cows, a nickname O.J. Simpson used to refer to his pregnant wife Nicole. But something still doesn’t seem right about it to me. What does everyone else think?
