“Empathy trumps narcissism when it comes to communication,”
Bloomberg Business columnist
Sheelah Kolhatkar wrote about
actress
Gwyneth Paltrow‘s unfortunate statements comparing herself to average working moms this week. “And if you’re in the 1 Percent crowd, definitely don’t whine.”
During
an interview with E! where she talked about taking a break from doing movies to focus on her kids, the
Shakespeare in Love star essentially said her job as a working actress (despite having a team that includes personal assistants, nannies, personal chefs, personal trainers, privilege, access, wealth and support) is somehow harder than the 9-5 working mom.
It’s much harder for me. I feel like I set it up in a way that makes it difficult because… for me, like if I miss a school run, they are like, ‘Where were you?’ I don’t like to be the lead so I don’t [have] to work every day, you know, I have little things that I like and obviously I want it to be good and challenging and interesting, and be with good people and that kind of thing.
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.
Oh boy!
And ever since then, it has been a full blown backlash of commentary, vlog responses and constructive and not-so-nice reaction, mostly angry.
I get where she was coming from, honestly, with her perspective about having a very challenging and stressful time having to balance so much. However, her woes just cannot compare when taken into perspectives considering the real-life, day-to-day struggles of women who have to work to support their families on a minuscule fraction of Paltrow’s salary.
The Iron Man franchise actress already has a reputation of being aloof and disconnected. With these last statements, she may likely have dug herself deeper into that “she just rubs me the wrong way” grave that so many people have buried in deep in the recesses of their mind.
Oy vey! What are your thoughts?
