I have to admit that when I saw that Heidi Klum had had to switch off the Instagram comments on her latest underwear campaign – where she posed with 19-year-old daughter, Leni – I actually laughed.
Not at the fact that the 49-year-old supermodel had likely been so sick and tired of the awful comments that she felt the need to stop them, of course. But at the comments themselves. They were just so ridiculous.
Leni posted the photo too, but has kept the comments on, which include one person remarking: ‘Somehow it’s weird to see mother and daughter in underwear.’
Another said: ‘First thing I think of when I want to pose in my intimates: “my mom should be here!” While another agreed: ‘I know, kind of gross.’
I mean, surely these people are joking? For a start, Heidi and Leni haven’t just uploaded a random picture of themselves in their bra and knickers. They are doing a job – they are literally paid to model clothes. And guess what – that includes underwear.
If they’re horrified by that, then they would be absolutely appalled if they were to peep into my house. My two children, Theo, five, and Immy, three, see me in my underwear – and sometimes a lot less – all of the time. Like every day.
It’s not like me and my husband, Tom, live in a naked house, where we walk around without clothes on all of the time. But it’s also not uncommon to see me drying my hair in my bra and pants, or putting on my make-up before I put on my jeans and jumper.
And given our two children constantly follow us around the house – asking us questions, wanting us to play with them – it’s a pretty common occurrence for them to walk in on me in various states of undress.
What is my option in this situation? To dramatically grab a towel and cover my body? Slam the door in their small faces? Or to explain that I’ll be with them in a minute and to carry on with what I’m doing?
To be honest, I never think twice about it. Just in the same way I wouldn’t think twice about wearing a bikini on the beach with them, exactly like I did last month when we went to the Canary Islands on holiday. In fact, I wear a string bikini that flashes a lot more flesh than my actual underwear. So please, can someone explain to me what the difference is?
I mean, look at those pictures of Heidi and her daughter. In what way are they indecent or offensive? They are hardly taking part in a BDSM shoot, are they? They’re not touching one another inappropriately, they’re not lewd or sexy. They are tasteful pictures, showing that women of various ages can wear beautiful underwear. A pretty positive message, I’d say.
Similarly, when Theo and Immy see me in my underwear, it’s not indecent. They barely look at me. And that is the way it should be.
Because, if I did make a big deal of them seeing me when I wasn’t fully dressed, what message would that send them? That I’m ashamed of my body or that there is something secretive or strange about it? That certainly isn’t the case.
Instead, I want them to know that a body is a body… and that’s it. We all have them and while of course they know that there are certain parts that are private, the general outlook in our family is that there is nothing embarrassing, or to be hidden away, about them.
Plus, I want to show my children what an average woman’s body looks like. I know full well that, before long, they will both be bombarded by the media and social media with images of 5ft 10in size 6 women with no hips or boobs – never mind cellulite or muffin tops – to speak of.
Either that or the uber-curvy, all boobs and bum, Kardashian-meets-Jessica-Rabbit style figure that is equally unattainable.
My body is nothing special. I’m a size 10 woman who has had two children, goes to the gym three times a week and eats chocolate most days. I want my children to see a body like that. And to know that tummies aren’t always completely flat. That thighs can be a bit dimply or that arms aren’t always super-toned.
I want them to have a healthy relationship with their body – and that means showing them that I have a healthy relationship with my body. Even though it is far from perfect.
Would I pose in my underwear with my daughter when she was 18, like Leni was at the time of the photoshoot? Maybe – it would depend on the situation. If the situation was that I looked like Heidi Klum and I was being offered a lot of money to do it, definitely.
So let’s get down to the real problem that people have with this picture. It’s the fact that it is two women posing together.
Let me ask you, would two men – a dad and his adult son – posing in their boxer shorts, have raised such outrage? Of course they wouldn’t. Because it’s only women’s bodies who are sexualised and scrutinised in this way.
We need to stop this idea that women are one-dimensional, sexual beings and realise that their bodies can simply be bodies, to be used as they see fit.
And if Heidi and Leni wish to show them off, in gorgeous underwear, alongside one another, we should celebrate that. Not turn it into something it isn’t.
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