Just when “mom jeans” have become on trend, here comes a brand new fashion article finding another way to paint moms as uncool, doudy, unsexy and unflattering.
This time, the culprit is a New York Times Style section article on so-called “Mom Hair”.
The piece, “Mom Hair: It exists. Now here’s what to do about it“, described the way some new moms wear their hair after suffering from temporary pregnancy related hair loss: “longer-in-back, slightly-shorter-in-front bob,” calling it “inescapably frumpy”.
It includes quotes from new moms who are ashamed of their hair and tips on how to have better hair.
And of course, the writer compared “mom hair” to the mom jeans.
Needless to say, it triggered a bit of backlash in the blogosphere.
Writing in the popular parenting blog Scary Mommy, Omaha, Nebraska mom Ashley Austrew criticized the article as condescending and called it “mommy shaming.”
“I don’t know about you but I’m sick of having the word ‘mom’ continually used as a synonym for uncool, unflattering, unhip and sexless,” Austrew wrote.
Amen! Tell ’em, Ashley.
In comments in social media, other women were speaking their minds.
“I’ve reprioritised my to do list: 1. Get rid of mom hair. 2. Love, feed, bathe, care for my children. Thanks, NYT!!” one fan wrote on Facebook.
“Enough already. Know what my ‘mom hair’ looks like? It looks like the hair of a woman who gets up at five, who works hard all day, who goes to bed and who might remember to remove her ponytail holder. Enough already. How about lifting each other up for once?” said another.
Some were upset about the part that suggested post part in moms wear their hair longer to hide their chubbier faces.
Some called the reaction an over-reaction but at the end of the day, we all can see where the frustration can come from every day moms being expected to look like Kate Middleton or Miranda Kerr post baby but without having the nanny and personal stylist on staff to help duplicate those women’s styles.