History Main / GlamorousSingleMother

Because viewing audiences tend not to like being reminded of how tough things can be, TV land has given us the Glamorous Single Mother -- a character who juggles children, personal life, and work life expertly with little trouble or complications. In particularly extreme examples, her life will be indistinguishable from those of similar characters who do not have kids -- they'll be little more than an adorable little PlotDevice every few episodes.

* Parodied in a dark way in ''Film/{{Ulvesommer}}'' where Cecilie is [[SexyScandinavian beautiful]] single mother who's a LethalChef and a suitcase filled with [[ReallyGetsAround pictures of her exes]], except for her daughter, and the story's heroine, Kim's father. Because 'he left her with a kid' by falling off a mountain and dying. Kim loves climbing like her father, which is expected for her to be sceptical too, but she disaproves of Kim being a {{Tomboy}}, even though she almost always travels around with her boyfriends rather than caring for Kim. She finally gets CharacterDevelopment in the end, TakesALevelInBadass, and becomes a good mother.

* Natasza in ''Film/{{Jasminum}}'' is an artist, an alchemist and a mother of a five-year old (a very [[FreeRangeChildren self-reliant one]], but still). She has no trouble juggling these roles.

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** Not to mention she has a very strong support group around her, who all live locally and are happy to help out. In fact the ever-dependable Monica and Chandler seem to spend more time with Emma than Ross and Rachel do.

** Subverted with Joan Harris on who is gorgeous and well-dressed, and as of Season 5, becomes a Ad Agency Partner. But it's shown that she has to depend on her irritating mother for childcare and that she had to make the infamous deal for her and Kevin's livelihood.
** Averted with Peggy Olson, who gains in confidence and workplace prominence throughout the series, but as a trade-off had to give up the child she secretly conceived with the married Pete Campbell for adoption. Though it never seemed to be a terribly difficult choice for her, and only seemed to keep it as long as she did because her family's Catholic Guilt.

* Naomi Sandburg in ''Series/TheSentinel'' travels constantly all over the world, has nice clothes, etc. in spite of being an ex-flowerchild with a son whose father she's not sure of (or won't admit.)

* Subverted with Kristin Baxter in ''Series/LastManStanding''. She is constantly shown to be stressed out and overworked. It's established that the only reason she is able to do it is because her parents and sisters help her.
* The short-lived ABC sitcom ''On Our Own'' (not to be confused with [[Film/OnOurOwn the 80s film of the same name]]) featured this heavily. After their parents died, the oldest brother of seven children takes over as guardian by creating a fictional aunt that [[WholesomeCrossdresser he poses as]]. While occasionally having issues with things like money, he's still able to go to school, work part time, and take care of his younger brothers and sisters on his own with far more ease than should be possible.

In RealLife, being a single mother isn't easy. Let's be honest here. Children kind of need a lot of attention. It can be an overwhelming task for two parents, let alone one who also needs to have a day-job just so she can put food on the table.

* Bulma of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' was this for a little while, as Vegeta left sometime before Trunks was born and did not particularly care about his son until after the Cell Games. Justified as she is the wealthiest woman in the world due to her family owning Capsule Corp. [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged The Abridged Series]] even hung a lampshade on it.

'''Bulma''': Please. I'm rich. It's hardly the same.

->'''Bulma''': You know, Vegeta might be...is a total ass, but he's not that bad.\\

* Ash Ketchum's mom Delia from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fits this trope somewhat. While she is a very good mom, Ash left his home at ten to commence his journey as most young men and women around his age do, so compared to many she had a lot less on her work plate. She is always there to welcome him back at the end of a journey. It's also said she works at a diner of some sort in the [[LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation original showrunner's notes, which she inherited from her mother]].

* Averted in the finale of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid''. When [[spoiler:Tohru is forcibly taken back to the other world by her father]], Kobayashi suddenly finds herself having to take care of Kanna and do housework on top of her already stressful job as a programmer. The apartment becomes a complete mess and she's shown to be emotionally drained after only a few days.

This trope, coupled with BabiesMakeEverythingBetter, can create some dastardly UnfortunateImplications in that they make getting pregnant appear to be a substantially less physically and emotionally draining task than it really is. It's probably not coincidental that this trope almost always involves upper-middle-class women, as opposed to the working poor. Contrast SingleMomStripper.

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* Ash Ketchum's mom from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fits this trope somewhat. While she is a very good mom, Ash left his home at ten to commence his journey as most young men and women around his age do, so compared to many she had a lot less on her work plate. She is always there to welcome him back at the end of a journey. It's also said she works at a diner of some sort in the [[LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation original showrunner's notes, which she inherited from her mother]].

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** The indie film ''Film/{{Tumbleweeds}}'' had a similar situation with the single mother, though a little more realistic in tone.

* Maggie in ''WesternAnimation/{{Yellowbird}}''. The mother of Max, her oldest son, plus Lisa, Anton, and Gigi, her three younger children. Despite the situation she's in, as well as the challenging task of keeping her triplets safe, Maggie is as positive as can be.
** The circumstances surrounding the absence of the father of her children are not explained.
*** However, the film makes it quite clear that she and Willy, another flock member, have developed feelings for one another.

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*** However, the film makes it quite clear that she and Willie, another flock member, have developed feelings for one another.

* Maggie in ''WesternAnimation/{{Yellowbird}}''. The mother of Max, her oldest son, plus Lisa, Anton, and Gigi, her three younger children. Despite the circumstances she's in, as well as the challenging task of keeping her triplets safe, Maggie is as positive as can be. Why the father of her children is absent is never touched on. However, the film makes it quite clear that she and Willie, another flock member, have developed feelings for one another.

* Ash Ketchum's mom from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fits this trope somewhat. While she is a very good mom, Ash left his home at ten to commence his journey as most young men and women around his age do. She is always there to welcome him back at the end of a journey. It's also said she works at a diner of some sort.

* Parodied in a dark way in ''Film/{{Ulvesommer}}'' where Cecilie is [[SexyScandinavian beautiful]] single mother who's a LethalChef and a suitcase filled with [[ReallyGetsAround pictures of her exes]], except for her daughter, and the story's heroine, Kim's father. Because 'he left her with a kid' by falling of a mountain and dying. Kim loves climbing like her father, which is expected for her to be sceptical too, but she disaproves of Kim being a {{Tomboy}}, even though she almost always travels around with her boyfriends rather than caring for Kim. She finally gets CharacterDevelopment in the end, TakesALevelInBadass, and becomes a good mother.

** Averted with Peggy Olson, who gains in confidence and workplace prominence throughout the series, but as a trade-off had to give up the child she conceived with the married Pete Campbell for adoption.

* Parodied in a dark way in ''Film/{{Ulvesommer}}'' where Cecilie is [[SexyScandinavian beautiful]] single mother who's a LethalChef and a suitcase filled with [[ReallyGetsAround pictures of her exes]], expect for her daughter, and the story's heroine, Kim's father. Because 'he left her with a kid' by falling of a mountain and dying. Kim loves climbing like her father, which is expected for her to be sceptical too, but she disaproves of Kim being a {{Tomboy}}, even though she almost always travels around with her boyfriends rather than caring for Kim. She finally gets CharacterDevelopment in the end, TakesALevelInBadass, and becomes a good mother.

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* Averted on ''Series/{{CSI}}''. Catherine notoriously has trouble balancing finding time for Lindsey with working nights at the crime lab. It is shown that her mother often looks after her daughter when she is at work.

* Bulma of ''Manga/DragonBallZ'' was this for a little while, as Vegeta left sometime before Trunks was born and did not particularly care about his son until after the Cell Games. Justified as she is the wealthiest woman in the world due to her family owning Capsule Corp. The Abridged Series even hung a lampshade on it.

* ''ThePerfectMan'' was mocked for its use of this trope ([[SoBadItsGood along with many other things]]). Jean's predilection of moving to a new state every time a relationship fails would rightly be viewed as a sign of mental illness in nearly any other movie. Here, though, the only apparent consequence of these actions is that her daughter Holly wants to keep her mom from being let down again. How Jean manages to do things like afford a two-bedroom apartment in New York on a baker's salary is...not explained.
** The indie film ''{{Tumbleweeds}}'' had a similar situation with the single mother, though a little more realistic in tone.

* Casey's mom Joan, from IcePrincess, is a single mother, college professor, and they both live comfortably. Gen and Teddy's mom, Tina, as well.

* Probably the most famous invocation of this trope is the title character on ''MurphyBrown''. Dan Quayle famously attempted to question the UnfortunateImplications this trope creates - and ended up the target of ridicule (in Real Life and on the show itself) for suggesting that television could influence people like that. Interestingly, [[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,319786,00.html Candice Bergen herself]] thought Quayle had a point.

** Somewhat justified, in that both her son and her boyfriend, the [[FrenchJerk Spy]], [[HiredGuns work for]] [[MegaCorp an organization]] [[PsychoForHire that pays them]] [[OnlyInItForTheMoney hundreds of thousand]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors of dollars a year]].