More than a Royal, Kate is Every Mom
All eyes are on an approachable duchess’s impending motherhood
From the very start of the Duchess of Cambridge’s pregnancy — which, thanks to severe morning sickness, was marked with all the fanfare of salmonella poisoning — the message to the world has been clear: Kate, despite being unlike any woman, is the Every Woman.
The months that followed have only underscored that likeness, from her mainstream maternity style to that Goldilocks bump (not too big, not too small but apparently “just right”) to such familiar nesting rituals as nursery prep and cooking lessons.
“People love to see a famous person — especially a Royal we all love — doing the same things we’re doing,” said Hilary Hagerman, associate lifestyle editor of Yahoo! Canada. “A lot of women are really looking to see what choices she’s making in her pregnancy.”
After Kate was photographed buying a Moses baby basket, supermarket sales of a knockoff version jumped by more than half. A polka-dot dress she wore at a public appearance sold out within hours of images hitting the Net. And when reports emerged that she’d bought an elastic-waist dress from Lovestruck, the store’s web sales spiked by 500 per cent.
Now, with presumably less than two months to go in Kate’s pregnancy, Canadian gossip-hound Elaine Lui suggests Kate’s appeal is largely rooted in her calculated image as a woman of the people.
“This is somebody who’s taken care to not be superremarkable but not be uberboring,” said Lui, founder of Lainey Gossip and a commentator on CTV’s eTalk. “Kate’s not going to give birth in a bathtub with, like, incense burning. It’s going to be pretty conventional.”
For a Royal, the duchess is indeed as relatable as they come.
“This is somebody who’s taken care to not be super remarkable ...” goss ip maven Elaine lu i
She buys her clothes from such mass-market retailers as Gap and Top Shop (and rewears outfits like a bona fide commoner); she’s attractive but not so much that it’s threatening; and she takes an informal approach to public appearances, swapping a stiff wave for a warm handshake.
Add all that to impending motherhood — a topic with which society’s obsession has reached fever pitch — and it’s no wonder the tabloids are genuflecting at her gestation.
“The combination of the Royal identity with the pregnancy — particularly at the current temperature we’re at culturally — is explosive,” said Lui. “Parenthood has become all about the parent now, as opposed to about the child.”
Of course, the perception of Kate being “just like us” puts even more pressure on expectant mothers to be just like her. And when it comes to pregnancy, feminist thinker Michelle Meagher said the expectations for women are already narrow at best.
“You should be glowing, you should be content, you should be fulfilled,” said Meagher, an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of Alberta. “Now that pregnancy is something visible — to be celebrated and shared publicly — there’s this demand to rock it, and to always be sexy. A yummy mummy.”
This bears out in the Royal womb-watch, wherein Kate’s stomach has been varyingly described by the media as “neat and tidy,” a “bijou baby bump” and, perhaps most absurdly, “the ‘Where’s Waldo?’ of pregnancy bumps.” Furthermore, she’s almost always juxtaposed with other pregnant celebs — typically Kim Kardashian or Jessica Simpson — whose “huge” and “impressive” bodies are appraised with the sensitivity of a cattle auctioneer.
But even this stands as an example of how the duchess’s experience reflects that of ordinary women, said Yahoo!’s Hagerman. Kate’s body, and how it compares to other expectant mothers, has come to be viewed as public property.
“Everyone thinks it’s their place to comment,” said Hagerman. “Things like that should be off-limits when you’re pregnant. If you’re not gaining a lot of weight, that’s fine; if you are, that’s fine, too. But that’s not how the public treats it.”