Can somebody please get John Legend a microphone ASAP, just so he can throw it on the ground? His most recent tweet was the best metaphorical mic drop since Barack Obama's at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. On Tuesday night, Legend called out a parenting double standard and deserves a round of applause. Following the criticism of his wife Chrissy Teigen for going out post-baby, he decided to even the playing field and draw attention to an unfair gender bias. He wrote, "Funny there's no dad-shaming. When both of us go out to dinner, shame both of us so Chrissy doesn't have to take it all. We'll split it."
The "All Of Me" singer raises an excellent point. Little Luna has two parents, yet only Teigen is shamed for going out to dinner. Doesn't the baby's father share equal parenting responsibility? Of course, the couple has family members to babysit or could hire a nanny. It's not like them leaving the house is the equivalent of abandoning their child, but you'd think so, based on how people reacted to Teigen taking a little break. With all of the parenting duties that accompany having a newborn, she definitely deserves the chance to eat in peace. But somehow, even though he was right by her side, Legend was not faulted for going out, just his wife faced the blame.
Highlighting the unfair scrutiny, Desi Lydic defended the couple on a Daily Show segment about mom-shaming. Showing that there's no need to worry about the quality of their nanny, Lydic said,
You’re worried about the quality of John Legend and Chrissy Teigen’s child care? It’s not like they’re getting their nanny off Craigslist. They’re rich celebrities. They could get Mary Poppins to watch their baby, as in literally call Julie Andrews, get her to come out of retirement to babysit in character as Mary Poppins.
In response, Legend tweeted the Daily Show link and joked about only using Mary Poppins on the weekend. Once again, his tweets are the best.
All joking aside, there seems to be an unfair gender bias, veiled in the assumption that mothers are expected to drop everything and be there for their kids 24/7. Husbands and fathers have just as much of a responsibility as their female counterparts, but definitely don't face the same scrutiny. So props to Legend for highlighting the lack of "dad-shaming," as he calls it.
Considering Legend has been vocal about feminism before, I'm not surprised that he's speaking out against this hypocrisy. Him being willing to split the attention with his wife inadvertently helps prove there shouldn't even be any criticism in the first place. It's not like they committed a crime; they simply went out to dinner. Since when is that such a bad thing?
Moments like this show that Luna is in very good hands. Her parents are known for speaking out when things bother them and that's a valuable trait to pass onto a youngster — essentially showing her to never be afraid to share her opinion. Plus, the emphasis on treating both genders equally is another valuable life lesson.
Instead of worrying so much about what Teigen and Legend do in their spare time, people should probably be more concerned with their own vicious language on the Internet. Practically anything the Sports Illustrated model does gets attacked. And as she tweeted the other day, "it happens for anything and everything. i have decided to stop worrying!" Although she has no problem defending herself, it's nice to see her husband has her back too.
