Hilaria Baldwin is defending her 12-year-old daughter Carmen after commenters criticized the tween’s clothing in a family video.
At a Glance
- Hilaria Baldwin posted a five-minute Instagram video defending daughter Carmen’s white tank top, beige skirt and black tights.
- She used a pie analogy to explain how patriarchy and Darwinism fuel beauty standards that pit women against each other.
- Baldwin urged mothers to nurture girls through conversation, not public shaming on social media.
- Why it matters: The incident spotlights how online criticism of young girls’ clothing choices can reinforce harmful societal norms.
The backlash began when News Of Los Angeles shared a clip of Carmen doing a voice-over with her younger sisters. One viewer wrote, “How on earth do you let a 12 y/o dress like this … EVERYTHING!” The comment triggered a broader discussion on Instagram about age-appropriate attire and female competition.
Baldwin, 41, responded with a video captioned: “Hi I’m Hilaria Baldwin, and I want to talk about how this comment relates to Pi, the patriarchy, and keeping us all very sad. I’ve learned from a lot of really incredible people, scientists, feminists, super wise women, what this is about and how we can all do better so that the next generation doesn’t have to deal with the garbage that we’ve had to deal with.”
Pie analogy and Darwinism
She likened societal pressure to a limited pie, saying:
- Resources aren’t scarce; the idea of scarcity fuels competition among women.
- Girls in childhood are a “safe zone,” while women in their prime are targeted.
- Seniors return to a “safe zone,” illustrating cyclical judgment.
“We think that there’s only a certain amount of resources, so we all have to go and run to grab our slice of the pie and any person in our way, boom, boom boom. Gotta knock them out of the way,” she said. “This is not true.”
Baldwin drew three columns on paper labeled childhood, adulthood and senior life. “We’re going to go through the life cycles of being female,” she explained, pointing to each section.
- Childhood: “Baby/girl, little and they cause no harm. This is called safe zone.”
- Adulthood: “Women in their prime, not safe zone.”
- Senior life: “Old lady, this is safe zone again.”
Teaching safety vs. shaming
She emphasized that teaching children about online and street safety should replace public shaming.
- She talks with her kids privately about potential dangers.
- Public comments can do “more harm” by shaming girls rather than protecting them.
- Every life stage can become a “safe zone” through collective support.
“Wearing a tank top and a skirt and tights. She’s been wearing that her whole life. So why is it making you uncomfortable?” Baldwin asked. “Yes, teach about predators, but ultimately women can do more harm to each other through this kind of comment because it’s shaming and it’s not inclusive.”
Call for unity
Baldwin concluded by urging women to view one another as teammates rather than competitors.
- Share “recipes” instead of hoarding metaphorical pie.
- Realize there is “enough pie” for everyone.
- Collaboration fosters safety and inclusion.
“We belong to each other. We’re like on the same team. Once we stop pretending and get serious of the fact that we think there’s not enough pie, we realize that there’s enough pie,” she said. “We can make more pies, and we can share our recipe, we can all be safe, take care of each other, all of it inclusive [and on the] same team.”
Family background
Hilaria and Alec Baldwin share seven children:
- Daughter Carmen, 12
- Sons Rafael Thomas, 10, Leonardo Ángel Charles, 9, Romeo Alejandro David, 7, and Eduardo ‘Edu’ Pao Lucas, 5
- Daughters María Lucía Victoria, 4, and Ilaria Catalina Irena, 2
Alec also has daughter Ireland Baldwin, 29, with ex-wife Kim Basinger.
The couple frequently documents family life on Instagram, where Hilaria’s parenting posts garner both praise and critique. The recent episode marks one of the few times she has directly addressed commenters in a standalone video, signaling her commitment to challenging beauty norms she feels harm young girls.
Key takeaways
- Online criticism of girls’ clothing can reinforce patriarchal competition.
- Baldwin advocates open conversation over public shaming.
- She invites women to support each other across life stages.
