This TAW is best known for her fashion policing during award show season. However, she has also touched millions of women during her struggles with breast cancer and in vitro fertilization.
Can you name this TAW?
She’s Giuliana Rancic!
I’ll be honest. The first time I saw Giuliana on E!’s series Giuliana & Bill, I thought, “Who the hell is Giuliana Rancic?” Then, I recalled all of those post-Oscar shows that either praise or totally dis stars’ dresses and dos. I believe the most recent version of that show features Giuliana with Kelly Osbourne and Joan Rivers. Either way, if I didn’t remember Giuliana, I most certainly had no clue who Bill Rancic was or why he was famous. Some of you might have seen a series called The Apprentice with Donald Trump (Any takers?). Apparently, he won that show and is now a successful contractor. The show has been profiling them for several seasons.
Anyways, I was sucked in to watching Giuliana & Bill pretty quick. I was immediately drawn in to the couple’s vibrancy. They were constantly joking around and having fun with each other like a pair of four year olds and I LOVED IT! When I started watching the show (December, 2010), I had just moved in with my boyfriend and we were experiencing the “joys” of the first year of living together. Needless to say (for those of you who know what I mean by “joy”), I was astonished that this couple was able to maintain their zsa zsa zou (to borrow a phrase from Carrie Bradshaw).
After watching a few (all) of the episodes, I became very interested in Giuliana Rancic. I wanted to know who she actually was. Was she just another “size 0 TV host” or was she more than that? I assumed the former and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Some of you may not know this, but I can be very quick to judge…. (Ok. All of you know that.) Either way, I tend to assume that everyone is a blithering idiot/totally inept/completely lame unless they prove me wrong. (I know, I know. It’s a bad habit. But that is an issue for another (and more lengthy) post).
But, I don’t think those things of Giuliana Rancic. In fact, after watching her shows, reading her book, and seeing her go through cancer with more grace than anyone I’ve ever seen, I think she’s brilliant (and sincere, and awesome, and a great role model, etc.).
To clarify, I don’t think you have to go through cancer to get on my good side but I think the way she handled it (by going on talk shows to keep the public informed of her experiences, etc.) is incredibly genuine and beyond helpful for those who have been affected by either breast cancer or problems with IVF (or both). I watched several of her appearances (before and after her double mastectomy) and I can say two things:
- I am much more aware about breast cancer and the treatment process.
- I now have some great insight into what it might be like for someone struggling to have a child.
This second bit of clarity hit home for me. Some of you may know that I was adopted by my (insert every positive adjective here) parents. Until very recently, I never realized how much my parents wanted a child. I mean, I knew they adopted me on purpose but it never really clicked. To see Giuliana & Bill go through a similar situation helped me understand what it might have been like for my parents.
Furthermore, I think it takes a Totally Awesome Woman (and/or Man) to do what the Rancics did, which is to choose adoption. Some people seem to exclude adoption from their playbook when it comes to having a baby (yeah, I just made a sports analogy). Some people think by adopting a baby, they would be missing out on the process. I think it takes an extremely independent mindset to decide to adopt. There are so many stereotypes about child-raising. Every commercial, book, TV show, etc. all assume that women actually gave birth to their children. None remotely account for adoption. When I was in elementary school, our teachers and schoolwork would also make these assumptions.
I don’t know why these stereotypes exist or why people feel bound by them. But I do know that without adoption, I most certainly would not be where I am today. So, I greatly appreciate what Giuliana & Bill have done for their baby and I would hope that anyone who wants a baby has the opportunity to adopt (and I mean anyone).
ShoutOut! James Madison University 