In a world of judgement and comparisons infiltrating people's lives on social media, it is refreshing to know that there are women out there who really don’t give a flying eff about what other people think. When it comes to parenting, the world is a judgemental one, especially over the internet.
New moms are either doing it wrong, or when they start doing what is apparently right, the trend changes again. Somewhere along the internet, trusting instinct and following individual thoughts became the worst thing to do. Either keep up with the parenting trends or be labelled a failure, apparently. This is certainly the world that many Millennial moms feel like they’re faced with.
Fortunately, there are many Millennial moms who are using their celebrity status or famed position to call bullsh*t on all of these. Many women out there are rocking motherhood with their individualism and their realistic approach. Putting a new face to perfection, here are some moms who are killing it right now and providing the right kind of role model for other Millennial moms to follow. These are the women to look to and follow in the face of superficial judgements and unrealistic expectations about the parenting world.
15 Jessica Alba
Well known actress who played many bad ass roles in her prime, nowadays Jessica Alba has a new focus in her life. Back in 2012, Alba started making nontoxic baby and household products her mission. These were hardly thought of as important back in 2012 when she started this mission, but with 2 children in her life, she recognised the importance.
Now, The Honest Company, started by Alba, is a huge success for all the right reasons. The company has useful and practical products such as eco-friendly diapers and baby wipes. Alba focuses on all the important essentials in parenting and aims to keep the convenience but wipes out the toxins and nasties. Plus, she’s doing her bit for the environment. What an inspirational mom, truly shaping a better future for her children!
14 Dayna Bolden
Starting in 2014, this Millennial mom started rising to power using social media in a really organic way. Her mission started by wanting to encourage black women to embrace their natural beauty, especially their natural hair. So she launched a bunch of hair styling tutorials using as little product as necessary. As her audience grew, so did her great quality, naturally inspired hair styling tutorials.
Now, this mom, wife, and businesswoman is without a doubt an influencer in the beauty world. She does advertising on behalf of big name brands such as Revlon, Eden, and Palmer’s. All the while, she is raising her children to have a positive body image and embrace their natural beauty, as well as combatting racism towards women of color. What a great role model to grow up with!
13 Alicia Keys
This girl is on fire in more ways than her professional singing career. Alicia Keys is more than just an R&B singer, but is also a mom of two boys with a wider understanding about social issues facing parents out there in the real world. Well aware of the difficulties in the world, especially facing children, Keys has used her celebrity influence in many charities.
Keys co-founded an organisation called Keep a Child Alive, in which the charity provides lifesaving HIV treatment, care, and food for children and families in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. She started this charity after visiting these countries and seeing the dire effects of disease and health problems herself. Talk about perspective to share with her children as they come to understand more about the inequalities of the world.
12 Chelsea Clinton
More than just a First Daughter of the White House, Chelsea Clinton is well aware of her position in society as well as her role as a mother. Since becoming a mother to daughter Charlotte, Clinton started to realise just how important reading to children is. Not only the importance, but also the joy of this. So she wanted to share it with the rest of the world and make sure everyone had the chance to enjoy these moments with a book.
Clinton is now a promoter of the Talking is Teaching campaign, which promotes talking and reading to children as part of their education at home. Her Clinton Foundation joined up with Next Generation and Too Small to Fail, campaigns to improve childhood vocabulary development across America by working with children and family. If knowledge is power, Clinton is helping many obtain it!
11 Brit Morin
Wearing the Domestic Goddess label with pride, Brit Morin is breaking down negative associations with being a ‘housewife’ and showing the world that this is a fulfilling role and can be a positive choice for women. Through social media, Morin is redefining what is means to be a millennial homemaker and she is doing it well.
Starting in 2011, Morin launched her website Brit + Co which is a DIY and crafts editorial and tutorial website. Showing women how to be creative, entrepreneurial, and upscale things around the home using technology and creativity. The idea is to empower women around the world to learn new skills and perhaps even make money selling their own products. Or, just to have fun and get creative with their kids, which can often be the greatest joy of life.
10 Chelsea Hirschhorn
There are some items that have taken off in the baby market with surprising popularity. One of these is the SnotSucker, and not many people know that Chelsea Hirschhorn was the one who came up with genius idea. The CEO of the company BabyFrida, who makes the products such as the Nose Frida and SnotSucker, Hirschhorn has a mission for making practical things to help keep babies safe.
Being a mom herself has helped Hirschhorn draw inspiration and insight as to what is needed on the baby market. These have included things, as her son has grown up, such as a perineal irrigation travel bag known as The Momwasher, and a useful delight when it comes to potty training called the ButtWasher. That last one is pretty self explanatory, really!
9 Adele
Well known for rejecting social norms and expectations, Adele is a breath of fresh air in a world where we are constantly pressured into acting or thinking in a certain way. When it comes to her music, her position, and her way of parenting, Adele certainly says no to all the bullsh*t. She became a mom at 24, regardless of the fact that society deems this is an acceptable age or not.
Adele takes the idea of perfection and makes it totally imperfect. For all the moms out there, it is refreshing to see that someone famous and constantly in the spotlight is willing to embrace her imperfections, her pregnancy curves, and the bags under her eyes that come with being a mom. If someone so talented and famous can rock these imperfections, surely they aren’t imperfections at all!
8 Hilary Duff
Little Lizzie Maguire grew up quickly when Hilary Duff became a mom at the young age of 23. While it is less common for women to start their parenting journey so young, Duff has done it with a truly mature and optimistic manner, not giving in to the social pressures and comments made about her decision.
The child actor and talented pop singer had her time in the spotlight and it clearly made her grow up and mature in a great way. After a 7 year break from the music studio or anything in the spotlight, Duff came back to the scene with her child beside her. Keeping things carefree, real, and all over positive is her way of parenting and she is certainly doing it well. Duff remains an inspiration for all those fans of hers back in the early 2000s when she was the beloved Lizzie Maguire.
7 Viola Davis
With many powerful acting performances under her belt, it is no wonder that Viola Davis is well on her way to becoming a household name. She shot to fame in the movie The Help where she had a lead role, and earned some well deserved awards. Furthermore, Davis was the first African American woman to win the Emmy for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama series for her work on How to Get Away with Murder.
With every acceptance speech for her talented acting, Davis makes sure she uses her platform to speak out for the advancement of women in society. Of course, she particularly advocates the advancement for women of color, using her position to speak out for wider social issues. And one of her main reasons for doing all of this is to ensure that her daughter Genesis has a brighter, trouble-free future without racial tensions and constant difficulties for women.
6 Melissa McCarthy
Perpetual funny woman, Melissa McCarthy is a writer, actress, and director who has been making a big name for herself both on and off screen. With her funny scripting and down to earth delivery, McCarthy has been brought to fame through roles in her show Mike and Molly as well as the hit movie Bridesmaids.
More than this, McCarthy has also launched herself into the world of fashion. Here she is designing a size 4 to 28 label, making comfortable, stylish, and fashionable clothes more accessible to women of all sizes. McCarthy has been known for embracing her curves on and off the screen. Now she is empowering and encouraging other women to do so. Promoting a body positive society for her two children is all part of her wider mission.
5 Yao Chen
She is sometimes called the Chinese version of Angelina Jolie but this actress and philanthropist has other things she is known for. She is an official UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in China and she is making sure her influence and power is used for the right reasons. Much of her focus is on supporting refugees around the world and combatting human rights abuses that are happening in the world.
Recently labelled a young global leader at the World Economic Forum, it is clear that Chen has big goals to make the world a better place for her beloved son and other children in the world. She is true role model, breaking through cultural barriers and expectations to do what she can to improve the social situation globally. And she is certainly doing a lot!
4 Rania Al Abdullah
She is literally a queen, but this title means more for Rania Al Abdullah. Queen Rania of Jordan has Palestinian descent and she is well known for being a writer and a human rights activist, as well as a former Apple employee. She has spent much of the past few years advocating for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Queen Rania is an advocate for UNICEF and an Honorary Chairperson for UNGEI where she is constantly working tirelessly for children’s rights and supporting children in dire circumstances around the world. All of this has been done while raising her 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl. What a truly inspiring way to lead the future of the monarch in a way where peace and understanding is at the forefront of global issues.
3 Dominique Dawes
According to this former gymnast, motherhood is harder than training for the Olympics. This is something we all need to hear sometimes! The goal of a perfect 10 in gymnastics, which she often got, was way more achievable than being a perfect 10/10 parent each day. Quite simply, because perfection isn’t possible on a daily basis with parenting.
Using her influence and status, Dawes actively wants to remind other moms out there that it is ok not to be perfect. There are circumstances and things that happen with parenting that are quite simply out of your control. Rather, she encourages moms to let go, embrace the imperfections, and just focus on the good stuff. This is achievable, and much healthier when parenting. If a top athletic gymnast can accept that, surely we can too!
2 Mila Kunis
Just because she recently starred in the hit movie Bad Moms certainly doesn’t make Mila Kunis a bad mother herself. In fact, she is exactly the opposite. She has taken her role as a mom very seriously, but also organically and naturally. Just like so many other moms, she realised in her first pregnancy that perfection wasn’t achievable. Once she stopped putting pressure on herself and her body, she was able to enjoy the journey so much more.
For someone who looks totally perfectly on the screen, Kunis wants it known that off the screen her life is just as chaotic and messy as yours can be. She is just another mother after all. She just wants to veg out in front of the TV and eat dinner just as much as anyone else. It is amazing how motherhood puts everyone on the same page, and Kunis wants it known that this she is happy to be there too!
1 Blake Lively
A true favorite amongst Millennial Moms for good reasons, Blake Lively does charming and realistic all at the same time. She keeps it real when she talks about her baby crapping on her or feeling like a drug-addicted zombie half the time, Lively isn’t afraid to say how it is. And don’t we need to hear it!
Along with Mila Kunis, Lively starred in the hit comedy Bad Moms. While this movie is something of a parody, there are many real moments that we can all relate to. The best part about it is that Kunis and Lively can relate to it too! Perhaps the only difference between Lively and a regular mom is that she has Ryan Reynolds by her side for the parenting journey - and haven’t we all dreamed of that!
Sources: Forbes.com, Parents.com, Mom.me/entertainment, Workingmother.com, Verilymag.com