Faith Hill’s Bikini Cover

The other day I was walking through Walgreens and happened to notice the new Shape Magazine with Faith Hill on the cover.  In case you haven’t seen it, Faith is wearing a yellow bikini and looking slightly Photoshopped.  Still, she’s obviously in great shape.

But something about the cover annoyed me.  Like the unrealistic model photos from my youth, I’ve noticed a new trend in certain 30 and 40-something year old celebs yakking about “having it all.”  And I’m not the only one.

An article on MSN also talks about the Faith Hill cover.  It says:

“Faith Hill is a tremendous singer. She’s raising three kids, which is hard, hard work. But this photo is just another in a long line of annoying “Aren’t I Amazing” celebrity features that really ought to come with a warning label.

If Faith Hill’s abdomen looks that good after three kids without plastic surgery and a bit of Photoshopping, I’ll eat my hat.”

I think the danger in celebs showing off is that their lives aren’t the same as the rest of the hard working parents out there.  They may be in great shape, but it comes with lots of time off, personal chefs, personal trainers, and nannies to watch their kids.  When they talk about how they “balance” their lives, they are really talking about a dream world for the rest of us.  They don’t know a thing about balance, because they don’t really have to.

I don’t begrudge them this.  But I also think talking about their lives as if they are the same as the average working mother or father makes the rest of us feel as if we aren’t doing a great job just because we don’t have the awesome careers and perfect bodies.

When I was a teen, the hot topic was all about models and how they were portrayed unrealistically.  They wanted us girls to know that the photos we saw were the result of great makeup and airbrushing.  In other words, they weren’t real.  But they felt real.  And these celeb photos and interviews do as well.

What I’d LIKE a celebrity to say is that they have a ridiculously fortune life!  They have lots of help, and after they get done doing a movie or recording an album, they have tons of time off.  They have makeup people come to their house, and working out is a part of their job.  The only time they really feel overwhelmed is when their nanny calls in sick.  Wouldn’t that be refreshing for once?