Take a look at this Instagram post and tell us what’s wrong with it:
Nothing, right? Just two sweet looking kids rugged up and having a great time on the slopes, and a comment saying how nice it is to see them doing so well?
Apparently not.
This seemingly innocent post has resulted in vitriol being dished out by those still angered over what they see as a huge problem when it comes to international adoption, particularly when rich white people adopt from disadvantaged countries.
This photo of Madonna's two adopted children, David and Mercy, was originally posted on Madonna's Instagram account. The caption next to the photo read, "We Ho Hard or we Go Home! #morehappiness".
But it when iVillage and Mamamia content director Mia Freedman reposted Madonna's photo on her Instagram feed together with a comment supportive of the adoptions, s*it hit the fan. It's not the first time she's reposted a celebrity photo on Instagram, in fact it's something we all do a lot, but we were shocked to see that many of her followers weren't as happy for David and Mercy as she was.
Here is some of the furore that followed in the comments:
As you say, the regulations are inconsistent. I am not saying people shouldn't be allowed to adopt. I am saying that we need to always query the actions white / privileged people take when it comes to third world nations. I don't think these kids' happiness proves or disproves whether we should allow international adoption.
And:
But I am so wary of individualist approaches to 'fixing' society. We need to make the world better for everyone, not just madonna's bloody kids!
Oh, and:
Don't you think that white privileged nations swooping in to overhaul a third world culture and their infrastructure is just as problematic as an individual adoptive parents fight to save one child and create a family unit? At least by adopting one child it draws attention to the plight of that nation.
So, is the issue where the children were adopted from, adoption itself, all humanitarian work, all adoption or as we suspect, WHO has done the adopting and who has dared to pat her on the back for it?
Madonna made headlines when she adopted David and Mercy. She adopted David from Malawi in South East Africa in 2006, just before splitting with British film director Guy Ritchie. Three years later she returned to Malawi and adopted Mercy. This second adoption was initially rejected however Madonna persevered and manged to bring Mercy into her family.
It has been reported that Madonna was encouraged to adopt a child from a disadvantaged nation by Brad Pitt, who along with partner Angelina Jolie is father to Maddox from Cambodia (adopted before Angelina met Pitt), Zahara from Ethiopia and Maddox from Vietnam.
And yet Brad and Angelina have never been been on the receiving end of criticism as harsh as what Madonna has been subjected to.
Could this be because Angelina has paid her so called dues when it comes to disadvantaged nations, with years of humanitarian work under her belt, much of it through the United Nations? Is it because Angelina chose to adopt from Cambodia, Ethiopia and Vietnam and perhaps Madonna's problems have been because residents of Malawi have themselves questioned the adoptions? Is it because Angelina and Brad's adopted children had no living relatives where as Madonna's children both have living relatives who have reportedly expressed a desire to see them?
Is it it because it's Madonna, the queen of controversy who for some reason can seem to do no right? She too has spent over a decade doing humanitarian work, focusing her efforts on the children of Malawi.
Madonna wasn't trying to make a political statement by posting the photo, by claiming that skiing and wealth is the ideal way to raise children. She's also making no apologies for the lifestyle she can provide to all her children, biological and adopted. She was just posting photos of her children.
Also, what's so wrong about rich white people helping children from disadvantage nations? Sure the system isn't perfect, especially when it comes to global adoption, but once adopted, these children become their children. End of story.
What do you think?
Celebrities have been adopting babies from disadvantaged nations for years as we can see in this adorable photo gallery.
