How to be a professional and a mother: The media construction of Gisele Bündchen’s ideal motherhood

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the mass media coverage of Brazilian top-model Gisele Bündchen pregnancy and motherhood. The research seeks to reflect on the possible versions and contradictions of being a mother in the context of neoliberal societies, defined by the imperative of individual responsibility for building a successful life. In Bündchen’s statements about motherhood and breastfeeding, there is both a conservative perspective, which reaffirms the place of women as mothers, and the absence of any conflict between motherhood and her career as a top-model. Gisele Bündchen’s postpartum professional activity, well publicized in the media, leads to the discussion about the construction of an ideal mother-woman and the contradictions, responsibilities, expectations and priorities of / for women nowadays.

Keywords: motherhood, celebrity, Gisele Bündchen, feminism, care.