“You should smile more.”
How many times has someone in your life said that to you? If you’re like me, you’ve lost count. I struggle to smile if I’m not feeling like it, and I’m sure many of you are the same way. Yet somehow, even if we’ve progressed in a lot of ways as a society, women are still being told to “smile.”
Jessica Simpson recently received this unsolicited advice after posting a family photo from her son’s birthday party and, well, I think it’s pretty unfair.
Simpson’s son, Ace, recently turned 5 and the family had a baseball- and parrot-themed party to celebrate. Simpson, who loves posting pics of her two kids on social media, snapped and shared a couple photos during the party.
While she’s no stranger to social media shaming, we’re thinking she wasn’t prepared for the backlash she got for posting the birthday pics – and it has nothing to do with the theme of the party.
In fact, it has everything to do with the fact that the mom of two wasn’t smiling in the photo she posted. Commenters flooded her photo feed and said things like, “Just smile, the rest of your family is,” and “I’m glad your kids will look back on these pics and see that their mom cared more about looking ‘good’ in pics rather than actually smiling and having a good time #unfollowingyou.”
While I’m not sure if Simpson was trying to look sexy or pose a certain way, I still think it’s insane that people are attacking her for opting not to smile right along with the rest of her family.
This is one moment of the entire party. Yes, they are posing and some argue she should be smiling, but you know what? Maybe she wasn’t feeling happy in that moment. She could have been stressed or she might have gotten into an argument with her husband right before the photo was snapped.
She simply shouldn’t have to smile because that’s the expectation that people have. If she doesn’t want to smile, she doesn’t have to – so people need to just back off and stop the mom shaming.
What do you think of the backlash? Did Jessica Simpson deserve it or are people overreacting? Tell us in comments.
