Angelina Jolie: Women in my position shouldn’t complain about parenthood

Are you listening, Gwyneth Paltrow? Angelina Jolie said that, as a wealthy celebrity, she’s in no position to gripe about parenting struggles.

“I actually feel that women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn’t complain,” Angelina told The New York Daily News. “Consider all the people who really struggle and don’t have the financial means, don’t have the support, and many people are single raising children. That’s hard.”

Although Angelina was responding to New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray’s comments about mom guilt, her sentiment also opposes her current fiancé’s ex-fiancée’s opinions on balancing work and parenthood. Gwyneth specifically caught flak this spring for implying office jobs are easier for parents than the work she does.

Angelina continued, “I’m not a single mom with two jobs trying to get by every day. I have much more support than most people, most women in this world. And I have the financial means to have a home and health care and food.”

When she does feel like she’s stretching herself too thin, Angelina said she has the wonderful ability to scale back.

“I’m in a rare position where I don’t have to do job after job,” the mother of six said. “I can take time when my family needs it.”

Despite the privileges of her lifestyle, Angelina added she and Brad Pitt aren’t encouraging their kids to pursue acting.

“When they get older, if they decide to be actors, I would just ask that that’s not the center of their lives,” she said. “[I hope] they also do many other things with their lives and are involved in many other things with their lives, because I don’t think it’s a healthy focus as a center of your life.”