Momshell

A hot mom. (Mom + bombshell.)

Over on the Woman’s Day blog, Paula Spencer was asked by a reader, mom2jack:

Do you think the First Lady is a “momshell”? Where is all this pressure for us to look hot coming from and how much do you think we should buy into it (as if we don’t have enough on our plates!)?

Spencer was not impressed with the term:

I admire Michelle Obama’s biceps and covet her cute sweaters, but I sure hate that new word “momshell”! It’s an ogle word, not a compliment. And the first time I heard it applied to the First Lady, it struck me as weirdly inappropriate to way to describe the wife of the President. Or any woman.

It seems that this portmanteau has been around for a while but, as The Associated Press recently reported, “It’s tough to pin down the exact origins of momshell, which began turning up on blogs, Facebook and Twitter with more frequency last fall”:

The term and “yummy mummy,” its equivalent in the UK and Australia, are meant as compliments, nods to moms who find time to take care of themselves while caring for their kids.

In this country, momshell has become the tasteful alternative to a more salacious nickname for hot moms, made famous in the movie “American Pie.” We’ll stick to the more G-rated versions in this story, but Tina Fey used the naughtier term in her imitation of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who’s sometimes included on the seemingly endless number of “top 10” hot mom lists online. Others include Jessica Alba, Demi Moore, Nicole Richie and, more recently, first lady Michelle Obama.

All of it is supposed to be funny and playful, even empowering.