‘Bad Moms’ Star Christina Applegate on Societal Pressure on Moms: ‘We Need to Lay Off’

When Bad Moms comes to theaters, it will be aiming to make audiences laugh. However, there is also commentary in the movie about the pressure society puts on mothers. When Yahoo Movies sat down with its stars, Christina Applegate and Annie Mumolo, we asked for their thoughts on that message. Applegate, mother to 5-year-old daughter Sadie, said the societal pressure is very real.

“There’s so much, like, mommy guilt and shaming, and ‘Oh my God, you didn’t breastfeed? How’s your child even healthy and OK?’” Applegate said, mimicking the voice of those who shame others. “Well, I didn’t breastfeed my child. I had a disease.” In 2008 Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer. Facing radiation treatments and continued testing for the rest of her life, she decided to have a bilateral mastectomy. The idea of her being shamed for not breastfeeding her child is understandably infuriating.

“You know what? My daughter is healthy and awesome, so don’t judge me on that. Don’t tell me all the things I should be doing, because your child is your child, my child is my child, and it’s unique unto themselves,” she told us.

Applegate shared what she thinks we, as a people, can do for moms and dads. “We’ve got to support each other,” she insisted. “We all know how hard it is to be a parent. You have to support one another and have compassion and empathy for every parent out there. Whether they be a single father or a single mother or two dads or two moms or whatever it is. Everyone’s got something going on. So we need to lay off.”

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