Shine OnCall to action: What do you think about the pressures of being a working mom?
Gwyneth Paltrow is at it again! Less than a week after her "conscious uncoupling," she's already under fire for recent comments made towards moms who have an office job.
In a recent interview with E!, the 41-year-old mom of two made some rather -- err -- insensitive comments.
"I think it's different when you have an office job, because it's routine and, you know, you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening," she said. "When you're shooting a movie, they're like, 'We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,' and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult. I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as, of course there are challenges, but it's not like being on set."
Oh, OK. Thanks, Gwennie.
Naturally, Paltrow's comments weren't very well-received, and caused a major backlash online. One mom was so upset, that she even wrote an open letter slamming the actress.
"As a mother of a toddler, I couldn’t agree more!," the letter begins. "'Thank God I don’t make millions filming one movie per year is what I say to myself pretty much every morning as I wait on a windy Metro-North platform, about to begin my 45-minute commute into the city. Whenever things get rough, all I have to do is keep reminding myself of that fact. It is my mantra. And I know all my fellow working-mom friends feel the same. Am I right, ladies? We’re always gabbing about how easy it is to balance work and home life."
"Is it the female breadwinners who work around the clock to make sure their mortgages get paid, lying awake at night, wracked with anxiety over the idea of losing their jobs? Or is it the mothers who get mommy-tracked and denied promotions? What about the moms with “regular” 9-to-5 jobs, who are penalized when their kids are sick and they don’t have backup child care? Those women are living the dream, I tell you!," she says later in the letter.
After a few more scathing paragraphs, the open letter finishes off with a bang.
"So, Gwyneth, you’ve figured out the secret of working parents everywhere: Livin’ la vida desk job is a breeze compared to the 14-hour days of a film set. Fourteen hours? Who in New York — especially those in the finance, law and tech professions — could possibly work 14 whole hours? Luckily, those 9-to-5 “ordinary job” hours grow on trees here. And if you lose one, all you have to do is find another. Yours, Mackenzie"
While Paltrow's comments were insanely insensitive, we can kind of see where she's coming from (that's a big kind of). It's not easy to uproot your life and be away from your family for weeks at a time, regardless of what kind of salary you bring in.
"Ultimately, it comes down to this: There is no easy way to be a mom," one Babble writer says. "Whether you're rich or poor, famous or not, young or old -- being a mom is a tough job."
So, we want to know: What do you think about Paltrow's comments, and the subsequent backlash? Do you think any moms have it "easier"? Tell us about the challenges you face as a mom.
