Gwyneth Paltrow is calling for a cease-fire. Specifically, with working mothers.
Following the announcement that Paltrow and Chris Martin were consciously uncoupling, E! ran an interview they conducted with the "Iron Man" actress before the separation news hit.
"It's much harder for me," Paltrow was quoted as saying about being a working mom. "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."
The 41-year-old actress has two children: Apple, 9, and Moses, 8.
"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," Paltrow continued. "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."
Paltrow's comments weren't exactly a hit with moms around the country who work 9-5 and can't afford a nanny or other luxuries the star's job has afforded.
Paltrow had remained quiet on the issue until Thursday, when she decided to address her remarks in her Goop newsletter.
"A few weeks ago during an interview, I was asked why I have only worked on one film a year since having children," the actress explained in a post titled "Ending the Mommy Wars." "My answer was this: Film work takes one away from home and requires 12-14 hours a day, making it difficult to be the one to make the kids their lunch, drive them to school, and put them to bed.
"So I have found it easier on my family life to make a film the exception, and my 9-5 job the rule," she wrote. "This somehow was taken to mean I had said a 9-5 job is easier, and a lot of heat was thrown my way, especially by other working mothers who somehow used my out-of-context quote as an opportunity to express feelings (perhaps projected) on the subject."
The New York Post, for example, ran a scathing open letter to the actress.
Paltrow continued in her blog:
"As the mommy wars rage on, I am constantly perplexed and amazed by how little slack we cut each other as women. 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).
"To every single mother out there, have a wonderful Mother's Day," Paltrow concluded along with a link to a YouTube video: "World's Toughest Job – Director of Operations."
Since Paltrow announced she and the Coldplay rocker were separating, the actress has kept a low profile in L.A., hanging out with her kids and opening a Goop pop-up shop near her home in Brentwood.
