Gwyneth Paltrow recently found herself at the centre of the ‘having it all’ debate and just how much a working mother can and can not do, after explaining in an interview why she’s only worked on one film a year since having children.
Her response, at the the time, provoked much debate, especially regarding whether a highly successful actress can really comment on the day-to-day realities of working mums. She seemed to imply women working nine to five have it easier than those working 12 to 14 hour days on film sets.
The mother of two has taken to her blog on Goop to say that her comments were taken out of context, and used the incident to note just why mothers are so quick to judge each other, especially regarding how many hours we work.
As she writes:
“We see disapproval in the eyes of other mothers when we say how long we breastfed (Too long? Not long enough?), or whether we have decided to go back to work versus stay home. Is it not hard enough to attempt to raise children thoughtfully, while contributing something, or bringing home some (or more) of the bacon? Why do we feel so entitled to opine, often so negatively, on the choices of other women? Perhaps because there is so much pressure to do it all, and do it all well all at the same time (impossible).”
What do you think? Ever feel like an innocent bystander in the ‘mummy wars’?