A reporter by the name of Mackenzie Dawson has just written an open letter to the actress after she saw an E! interview which stuck in her craw. During said interview. Gwyneth had this to say about being a working mum:
"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."
What follows is something Dawson obviously wrote in her head on her "45-minute" morning commute. It is therefore filled with bile and dripping with sarcasm. You know, the kind of thing I used to write before I had a baby who hijacked my sleep and therefore my brain.
Hats off, Mackenzie, you've given me hope.
You can read the full letter here, the following are just some of my favourite excerpts:
"'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. Whenever I meet with them at one of our weekly get-togethers - a breeze to schedule, because reliable baby sitters often roam my neighborhood in packs, holding up signs peddling their services - we have a competition to see who has it easier. 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!"
And...
"As someone with an office job, my mornings are obviously pretty leisurely. Sometimes I even have time to drink half of my coffee before it gets cold! After my 6 a.m. wake-up, I have a lot of time to loll around, hopping in the shower and then throwing makeup on my face, hoping that I’ll have enough time to put my tights on before my son starts crying in his crib. Then, when he does start crying, I have to make the decision: Do I get fully dressed, or do I go tend to him with my hair still dripping wet? Talk about being spoilt for choice!"
And, lastly...
"After I get home from work, I’m full of energy and ready to cook dinner using one of the recipes you post on your lifestyle Web site, Goop: slow-cooked kale, pancetta and bread crumbs, anyone? After that, I’ll go to yoga, spend a few hours meditating and maybe do some online shopping, picking up a pair of $350 white leopard-printed short-shorts via Goop in preparation for the “spring break” I’ll take with my husband and son. If there’s one thing I look good in after having a child, it’s short-shorts."
Don't it just warm the cockles to know you're not alone?
This brilliant bout of vitriol spilled from a woman who lives in New York City and works for The New York Post... *sighs wistfully* Imagine how bitter the vast majority feel. Grass is always greener, hah :)