Supermodel Christy Turlington has expressed profound discomfort and unease after witnessing men ogle her daughter, Grace Burns, now aged 22. As one of the original supermodels from the 1990s, Turlington was accustomed to the male gaze throughout her career. However, her perspective on this type of attention transformed dramatically when she observed men looking at her own child in a similar manner.
A Mother's Protective Instincts
Christy Turlington explained that while she had always been aware of the male gaze, she did not fully confront the issue until she became a mother. She noticed men looking at her daughter when Grace was around 15 years old, which she found deeply unsettling. Turlington shared these reflections during an appearance on Bella Freud's Fashion Neurosis podcast, where she questioned whether men possess self-control in such situations.
'A young woman is a child, and I don't know if a lot of men have control in the way that they react to that beauty and innocence,' Turlington stated. She elaborated further, suggesting that this reaction might be almost instinctual for some individuals. 'Whatever that is, it's like a drug I think and people aren't even aware that they have that reaction. And they need to actually be taught not to have that reaction or to ask themselves why they're having that reaction. It's a very strange thing to observe.'
Grace Burns: Following in Her Mother's Footsteps
Grace Burns is Turlington's eldest child with Hollywood actor Edward Burns, whom she married in 2003 after meeting at a charity event in 2000. Despite her mother's warnings to stay away from the modelling industry, Grace has embarked on her own modelling career. She made her runway debut in 2023 at the X LuisaViaRoma show in Florence, Italy, and two months prior, she appeared alongside her mother in a campaign for designer Carolina Herrera.
In October, Christy celebrated Grace's 22nd birthday with a heartfelt Instagram tribute, praising her daughter's 'poise, sensibility, and determination.' She wrote, 'It’s so hard to comprehend how quickly these 22 years have flown by sometimes and then also as if we’ve known one another for centuries. You continue to amaze me since the moment we met - in countless ways.'
Family Life and Philanthropic Work
Christy Turlington and Edward Burns also have an 18-year-old son named Finn. In summer 2024, Turlington shared a rare family photo on social media, revealing that she had become an 'empty nester' after Finn's high school graduation. The post garnered numerous likes from fashion industry friends, including fellow supermodel Linda Evangelista.
Beyond her modelling career, Turlington is a dedicated philanthropist. In 2010, she founded Every Mother Counts, a nonprofit organisation focused on addressing barriers to maternal health worldwide. This initiative was inspired by her own near-fatal experience during Grace's birth in 2003, when she suffered a severe postpartum haemorrhage. 'A woman can bleed to death within two hours,' Turlington explained, highlighting the critical importance of access to emergency obstetric care.
Every Mother Counts aims to make pregnancy and childbirth safer for mothers everywhere, addressing the fact that hundreds of thousands of women die due to lack of basic or emergency care. Turlington's advocacy work adds another layer to her public persona, demonstrating her commitment to maternal health issues alongside her reflections on motherhood and the modelling industry.
