Pop Culture's Anti-Mom

Gen Xers grew up surrounded by images of the Super Mom who could do it all - thank you, Mrs. Cleaver. But now, as they're growing up and realizing that even Carol Brady had help - not to mention a blended family - Xer moms are gravitating to the Anti-Mom. Today's entertainment reflects the frazzled mom who's much more likely to be open about the challenges women face. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES was among the first shows to allow women to admit that sometimes motherhood isn't all bliss. And now, we have Julie Bowen in MODERN FAMILY, Courtney Cox in COUGARTOWN, Patricia Heaton in THE MIDDLE and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the now-canceled NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE. Rachel Griffiths, who stars in BROTHERS & SISTERS as Sarah Walker, a harried mom with an Ivy League degree, told ABC News:

"In the '80s or '90s, we had the 'Top Gun' version (of life) where, if we try and we have enough will and enough courage and enough faith, we will succeed," she observes. "Maybe that part of ourselves has been bruised a little bit, and if we hold ourselves up to that example, we come up really short. Recent events, both in terrorism and in the global financial crisis, have humbled us all (and bred) resilience. And part of that resilience is saying, 'Sometimes we do our very best and it's not enough.'"

Now that's something Xer Moms can unwind to with a glass of wine....