Claire Stoermer of Oakland has had to learn to live in the glare of a spotlight that’s regularly trained on her daughter Zendaya, one today’s biggest female stars.
That position comes with its fair share of scrutiny, especially with a daughter who is lauded for her talent, style and red-carpet glamour. But there’s only so much one person can take, and on Wednesday, the 62-year-old Stoermer hit out people making negative online comments about her looks, the Daily Mail reported.
Sharing a screenshot of an unflattering post about her appearance that had popped up in her feed, the former Oakland public school teacher wrote: “I totally get why people have to give up Instagram for their mental health.”
“If I was to go and read all the comments on this post about myself, I could feel really bad,” Stoermer continued, according to the Daily Mail. “There are some terrible, horrible comments, I did read some of them.”
At least, Stoermer said, she doesn’t “take that (expletive) personally.”
But Stoermer put on her former elementary school teacher hat and said: “Once upon a time I may have. And if I was a young person, I know I definitely would have. It’s sad and frustrating.”
Stoermer raised Zendaya in Oakland with her ex-husband, former fellow teacher Kazembe Ajamu Coleman. The former child actor, who broke through as a star in HBO’s teen drama, “Euphoria,” has long maintained a close relationship with both her parents, who divorced in 2016.
Even after Zendaya achieved phenomenal success in films, including in the “Spider-Man” and “Dune” franchises and in more recent features like “Challengers,” “The Wedding” and “The Odyssey,” she has looked to her parents as role models.
Zendaya, who recently tied the knot with her “Spider-Man” co-star Tom Holland, also has expressed pride in her mother’s long dedication to teaching, education and helping others.
“Growing up, I watched my mom teach in the heart of Oakland, at inner-city schools that were always underfunded,” Zendaya told Teen Vogue in November 2016. “My mom went above and beyond, working constantly to open her students’ eyes to an education that could lift them far beyond their current circumstances.”
Zendaya also praised her mother for introducing her students to the arts. She would “guide them through the language of Shakespeare, and show them the wonders of nature outside city life — all things that they wouldn’t have experienced otherwise,” Zendaya also told Teen Vogue.
“Watching her was magical; it instilled within me a true appreciation of and devotion to the importance of education,” Zendaya also said.
Zendaya also began her arts education via her mother. During the summers, Stoermer picked up extra work at the California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, working as the house manager. This gig gave Stoermer’s preternaturally talented and ambitious daughter early exposure to professional acting; Zendaya has talked about watching performances from the back of the house.
Now, Stoermer is trying to share some lessons with people who follow her on social media, especially anyone who might find themselves on the receiving end of social media commentary. She referred to “the four agreements” — which come from a popular, Oprah Winfrey-endorsed self-help book, “The Four Agreements,” by Don Miguel Ruiz. The central idea of the book is that a person’s life is determined by agreements they make with themselves, with others, with God, and with society as a whole.
As Stoermer said about the four agreements, “One of them is don’t take anything personally, it has nothing to do with you.”
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