Most people have heard about Gwyneth Paltrow and her “conscious uncoupling” from her rock star husband, Chris Martin. On the heels of that, she told E! News, essentially, that it’s harder being a movie star mom than having a regular job. As you might imagine, this set off a firestorm from mothers with “regular jobs” everywhere.
While I don’t make it a habit of responding to off-the-cuff comments by Academy Award winning actresses, it’s not every day that Access Hollywood sticks a microphone in my face. Recently, I took my daughters to New York and ended up in a Hollywood maelstrom of sorts. We were near the Rockefeller Center when a reporter asked me to comment on Ms. Paltrow’s unflattering comparison. Here’s a link to my (Access) Hollywood moment (at 1:19 minute mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYIYul8rcY8&feature=youtu.be
To be fair, Ms. Paltrow’s exact quote was: “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, 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.”
Is this a major international incident? No. But I’m tired of elitists, who are out of touch with the realities of everyday life. For a high paid actress to compare her relatively pampered life on a movie set (yes, even in the jungles of Wisconsin) to that of mothers struggling to get by – is ludicrous. Today, as the CEO of Clearfield, I make a good living and am fortunate to be able to enjoy a few extra frills – a once a month cleaning lady keeps me sane when I get behind with the dusting, and my children have enjoyed traveling with me. But early in my career, working in the marketing department, I’ll never forget my oldest, perhaps 2 years old at the time, screaming at the airport as Mommy left once again on the airplane to launch a product in some European market – or calling my daycare provider from Amsterdam, only to learn she was ill and my daughter was being cared for by a woman I had never even met.
Frankly, I think Ms. Paltrow deserves some negative backlash for her dismissive comments. Working mothers, especially single mothers, deserve our respect and support.