Amy Poehler has slammed the “unspoken pact” that leaves both working and stay-at-home mothers feeling guilty.
The actress, who has two sons with ex-husband Will Arnett, told NPR that there is a constant pressure on women to have the perfect balance between motherhood and their careers.
“There is an unspoken pact that women are supposed to follow. I am supposed to act like I constantly feel guilty about being away from my kids. I don’t. I love my job. Mothers who stay at home are supposed to pretend they are bored and wish they were doing more corporate things. They don’t. They love their job,” she said.
The star continued to add that she had been “unprepared” for how her life would change after having her first child and said she wished that women were more honest about their struggles.
“It was harder than I think I wanted to admit at the time. I think I tortured myself a bit in that first year about what kind of mother I was and could I do this thing well and also give birth to this new show.
“There’s not enough… working mothers who kind of talk about who they leaned on and how they got through that difficult time. There’s this thing where nobody likes to talk about how difficult things are. Everybody likes to talk about [how] easy it is or can be if you only do X, Y and Z. But it’s difficult to be away from your baby and to be working hard and also want to be working — and it’s difficult to be staying at home after you’ve been a person who maybe wasn’t.”
