Breastfeeding moms call BS on Rachel McAdams pumping shot: 'This does not represent us. At all.'
Rachel McAdams made headlines a few days ago after photos surfaced of her pumping during a fashion shoot while wearing designer clothes and diamonds. In the shot, a glammed-up McAdams gives the camera serious face while her breast pump does its thing.
While plenty of people have applauded the shot for normalizing breastfeeding, plenty of others have pointed out that this is far from a normal pumping experience.
A post shared by Claire Rothstein Photographer (@clairerothstein) on Dec 18, 2018 at 1:11am PST
One of them is Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean, who had this to say on Twitter:
A lot of us mommies are texting each other about the picture of #RachelMcAdams pumping breast milk while wearing a #Versace outfit. This does not represent us. At all.
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) December 20, 2018
Many of us pumped milk in bathroom stalls and offices and were exhausted but wanted to balance the working mom thing. It wasn’t glamorous. It was hard work. Fantastic that she can do it with perfect hair makeup and her size 4 body back, but that ain’t us.
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) December 20, 2018
She’s not the only one who isn’t impressed:
I do not care about Rachel McAdams pumping in a photo shoot. I care about the momma struggling to breastfeed, waking up every two hours to feed and pump with bags under her heart and tiredness in her soul. Motherhood is not glamorous. Motherhood is hard.
— l i z (@L_Savens) December 20, 2018
For one day, can I just look as badass as Rachel McAdams does while pumping? #workingmomgoals #restingpumpface pic.twitter.com/xlTHICpzsr
— Sarah Goldfarb (@SarahGoldfarb) December 20, 2018
I wish I looked like her while pumping! 😂🤱🏻🍼 @rachelmonline #SanaAll #PumpingMom #MommyGoals #BreastfeedingMomma #RachelMcadams pic.twitter.com/WrONZIQc1Y
— Rose Marie Domingo (@qtmarie15) December 19, 2018
Honestly, I’m not super blown away by this either. On the one hand, it’s great that McAdams is showing that even celebrities have to take breaks to pump. But on the other, this is not what at-work pumping looks like for most moms.
The Affordable Care Act mandated that women be given workplace accommodations for breastfeeding, but those accommodations are often far from luxe — if they actually happen at all. One nationwide survey, for example, found that only 40 percent of breastfeeding women had access to both break time and private space to pump.
I’ve had to pump in a shared room at work (which can be a little awkward depending on how comfortable you feel with whipping your boobs out in front of coworkers), as well as in a tiny, windowless supply closet that was cleaned out for me (the first mom on staff, ever).
In both situations, I had zero time for serenely glamming it up on a gold-plated bed. Instead, I was frantically trying to keep up with work on my phone or laptop while trying to produce as much milk as possible in as short a time as possible to allow me to feed my kid and not fall seriously behind at work. I also took work calls and did interviews while pumping. I couldn’t afford a nanny and had to leave by a certain time every day to get to daycare before it closed — and charged me an extra $5 a minute I couldn’t afford — so time was of the essence. As for the designer wardrobe and full makeup, yeah, most new moms would agree that’s just not their reality.
To be fair, McAdams didn’t claim that she was representing all women or that she was trying to make a statement, and she didn’t even post this photo herself (photographer Claire Rothstein did). But it’s important for people who aren’t moms to understand that this shouldn’t be a standard that the rest of us are held to. Really — we’re just doing the best we can, sans Versace.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Chrissy Teigen reveals her son will have to wear a corrective helmet
Chrissy Teigen had the best response to troll who tried to mom-shame her about breastfeeding
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