Why Keira Knightley Won’t Let Her Daughters Watch Cartoons About Princesses and Doesn’t Think That Babysitting Dads Are Heroes
Keira Knightley is a mother of 2 daughters she raises together with her husband James Rayton. The actress has her own view of motherhood, and she openly talks about it in interviews. She doesn’t let her kids watch some Disney cartoons, she thinks that dads are sometimes overpraised for performing basic parenting duties, and she is critical of how Kate Middleton was pressured to present an over-idealized image of how women should look after giving birth.
She admits that motherhood is a difficult job.
After having her first baby, the actress shared her worries about the changes that happened to her. She shared that the resulting hormonal imbalance and constant lack of sleep affected her marriage and she felt like a loser. But then Keira realized that it’s just because motherhood is not an easy thing.
Keira believes that the hardships of pregnancy and labor are really undervalued.
The actress thinks that women who have had children are not praised enough. Keira openly criticizes the society that is so used to perfect images that it made Kate Middleton appear with makeup and on high heels in front of people just several hours after the labor.
The actress, who had her first child one day before Princess Charlotte was born, was shocked by Kate’s appearance. Like any woman who has experienced childbirth, Keira knew it was an incredibly unrealistic image of a person that had her first child just hours ago.
Keira wrote a powerful essay where she reported honestly on her labor experience.
Many people imagine childbirth as some sort of intimate mystery and feel that the unpleasant details shouldn’t be discussed anywhere but the hospital ward. The brave actress decided not to be silent about what she’s been through just because someone might think it’s not appropriate.
Keira openly talked about the feelings she had during labor. She tried to explain that having a child is not just a miracle. The hard work of the mother is often neglected.
She combines motherhood and work.
The actress is a working mother, who said that she felt guilty because she couldn’t give her daughters enough attention due to the filming. She returned to work when her first daughter was just 4 months old.
After having her second child, Keira planned a 6-month maternity leave, but she still had to work from time to time. She said she’d just pump break milk and go to work, trying to come back as soon as she could.
She won’t let her daughters watch some stereotypical cartoons about princesses.
The actress, known for her active feminist position, said that she herself chooses the cartoons her daughters can watch. She doesn’t like the fact that in many classic cartoons, the main character is a typical damsel in distress that needs to be saved by a man.
At the same time, Keira likes the stories where women are powerful people that don’t need a strong man to be happy.
She doesn’t want fathers that take part in raising children to be recognized as heroes.
Some people act like it’s an incredible feat when men take care of their children. Keira attracts attention to this issue because she thinks that dads don’t deserve any special praise for doing what they should be doing.
She raises a valid point here. Many people still think that when men play an active role in raising children, it’s absolutely outstanding and adorable. At the same time, the incredible load of work women have to do is dismissed as ordinary, and women are criticized if they speak out on this.
How do you feel about Keira’s attitude towards motherhood?