Comments on: Keri Russell Thinks Real Life Is Kinda Just As Good As Being Famous

By: Jack Myswag

Jack Myswag — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:43:42 +0000

it grounded you too? How utterly unremarkable. Well, Keri saying something so boring and boilerplate, it’s not a surprise she has no career.

By: Jack Myswag

Jack Myswag — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:17:35 +0000

About societal standards:
Male politicians/CEO NEVER get asked, how do balance work and kids, while female politicians/CEO/careerwomen get asked that ALL THE TIME.
I mean, this is the 21st century!!!

By: Jack Myswag

Jack Myswag — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:13:13 +0000

once again, i agree with you jennifer. also, Keri prolly just couldn’t get a job when the going got tough?

By: CranAppleSnapple

CranAppleSnapple — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:01:28 +0000

Very well said, meh. I too know several mothers that are not better people for it. My own and my sister, are both exhaustingly selfish. My sister actually stopped her daughter from joining the national children’s choir because it would have meant driving her to regular practices. (My jaw hit the floor)
I totally agree, people should talk about their own personal experiences and steer clear of the sweeping statements.

By: ltc

ltc — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 05:37:01 +0000

@bonnakins wow you basically put all of my thoughts on what it is like to be a parent right out there. i couldn’t agree more with everything you said.
i am quite selfish with my time and i think that is why i will only be having one child. i am already pumped for him to grow up and for me to go on vacations. but i love him to pieces!

By: bonnakins

bonnakins — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:17:25 +0000

Well said, and I fully agree with you. If I never had the kid I would have never missed him. Parenting is one of the most tedious and often thankless things I have ever done. I miss reading, bathing, adult conversation and nudity in the living room. I miss how quiet things used to be and I miss my old job. I would be lost without my kid, he is the greatest thing to ever happen in the entire world, but he was not an expected pleasure. I agree that it feels like it is not okay to be female and not to want to have children. I am even sick of all those swarmy televison commericals simpering about being a “good mom” and buying the right jam for the kid’s lunches. Thankfully, my co-parent is much better at this then I am, and thanks to his intervenion, the boy seems to be turning out okay, and with any luck, will be out of the house by the time he turns eighteen although whenever I bring the subject up, my son informs me that he is going to live with me forever. (I`ll take that as a vote of confidence in my parenting abilities).

By: bonnakins

bonnakins — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:36:07 +0000

I had cats first. They grounded me. The kid, (although I love him dearly), was more of a derailment.

By: meh

meh — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:46:06 +0000

” “You instantly become less selfish. You can’t be the biggest person in the world anymore—they are. It really grounds you.” ”

Maybe if she spoke to her own experience only and didn’t feel the need to make general sweeping statements about “you” and “you” and “me”, I wouldn’t really care about what she said. But you know what, I can think of at like 8 women off the top of my head who did NOT become less selfish after having kids. I’d really appreciate it if people could just speak for themselves only and not think that just because they experienced something, they know everything about it and can speak to how everyone else feels.

By: Kimbra

Kimbra — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 23:44:07 +0000

Keri is simply talking about her own experience. She is putting no one down. By the way, having children grounded me, also.

By: JG

JG — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:36:02 +0000

How exciting for Keri Russel to discover what pretty much everyone already knows. Perhaps in this era where high profile women are struggling to be asked questions about their career and not when they plan to make babies with their vaginas, she could be a bit less smarmy about having finally realized she’s not the center of the universe? Also, did she not discover the value of being unselfish in the relationship that led up to her having kids? Um.. ok.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:39:20 +0000

If you’d read my comment above, you’d see that my issue is not with people who choose to have children, but with the societal standard that a woman’s life is empty if she chooses not to procreate. Everyone can have 5 billion children each if that’s what they want! (Also, no one said anything about people who choose to have children having no thoughts about doing so, so no idea where that came from.) While I was slightly annoyed by Keri Russell’s comment, I don’t think it’s because her experience isn’t valid in any way (and who would I be to say either way?) but because it supports a very common standard held in our society for women that motherhood is the pinnacle of existence and it’s not until you pop out a few kids that your life really gets meaning and all the pieces come together. Did she mean that by what she said? Most likely not. My point was that you see these kind of comments from most Hollywood actresses – motherhood is the greatest gift, life becomes a shining beacon of clarity and balance once you’re a parent, etc – and I personally feel that while it’s true for these women and they’re totally entitled to it, heaven does not shine down a profound ray of light once you become a mother and it’d be nice to see a little something different being said publicly about the issue – and that’s valid, too. Women who choose not to have children probably have a right to be defensive, when every question thrown at them has to do with when they’re going to settle down and do so. That’s not to say EVERY person feels that way, but that a large majority seem to – or so their behaviour demonstrates.

By: nakedpainter

nakedpainter — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:23:03 +0000

Ugh. What I absolutely hate is when people who have never had children automatically assume what my thoughts are about people who have never had children. Because, you know those of us who have had children, CLEARLY, we just had children to breed, and borne them with absolutely no thought processes involved ever (sarcasm). I’ve met many a person who never had children who seemed to have things pretty figured out, but the person who wrote this post, still has their head firmly wedged up their ass, clearly.