Parenting in Hollywood

Well I said this was going to be a pop culture blog as well as a personal one, and so I wanted to comment on something I've been following over at http://www.tmz.com for a day or two now.

There's this ex-couple, OK? Travis Barker and Shannon Moakler. I *think* they're reality show people -- when there are famous people who I have NO idea how or why they're famous, that's what they tend to be famous for, because it's probably the entertainment genre I watch the least (using that term loosely of course). Actually, ashamed to say, I know how Shanna Moakler is famous - she was a contestant on "America's Next Top Model", if I have that right. But nevermind all that - how and where people become famous, and the epidemic of reality shows, I could write about in a whole other article, and perhaps I will. I want to write about the discussion of their parenting skills post-breakup (and reunion ... and break-up ...).

Since their most recent (and presumably final) breakup, Barker has been seen all over the place with their kids - including Moakler's daughter from a previous relationship - while Moakler has barely been seen with them. This has led to him being praised as a great and involved dad, and her being criticized as an absentee mom.

Funny, though, how when the reverse happened in the Britney Spears/Kevin Federline divorce - she was snapped with her kids all over town, while he kept his life with the boys scrupulously private, he was praised for protecting his sons, while she was skewered as using her boys as publicity magnets. Now, personally, I don't see how it can be a positive thing, exposing young children to the flashbulbs these celebrities face, by their own, adult choosing, every day of their lives. But let's say it's indicative that you love your children that you are "seen" with them. It is at LEAST hypocritical to trash one mother who is never seen with her children for being absentee, while another, always seen with them, is using them to get good press.

Perhaps this is where we realize that either way, one person's parenting skills and choices are none of our business? That is up to the two individuals as coparents, childcare professionals (social workers/children's aid workers, teachers, etc.), and perhaps extended family (eg grandparents). As hypocritical as I admittedly am for saying this, perhaps we as a public need to take more responsibility for focusing on these people for WHY they are famous - their acting skills, musical ability, or what have you. And if we don't have a good answer to that "why" ... well, then we have another "why" question: why do we care in the first place?

Damn ... although now that I've gotten on THAT soapbox ... does that mean I have to go cold turkey on TMZ and Perez?