Melissa McCarthy And Sandra Bullock Sing The Working Mom Guilt Blues

Here’s a way to get an immediate microphone in your face. Be a successful lady who happens to have kids and utter “working mom guilt.” Insta-press. Not that Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock need it. But it’s the easiest “these women are just like you” press gimmick out there. It’s practically #1 on the top 10 mommy soundtrack. Hit the ballad, ladies.

The two mothers tell Parade that they are absolutely awash in working mom guilt. Oscar and all, Bullock, who is mother to 3-year-old Louis, tells the publication:

“I don’t know if I feel like a bad mom, but at the end of the day I’m always plagued with: Did I do enough? Should I go in a different direction?…But I also know that my entire life revolves around Louis.”

McCarthy, who is mother to 6-year-old Vivian and 3-year-old Georgette practically sings the chorus:

“It plagues me. I feel intensely guilty for working … You have to be able to provide for your kids. But I feel like it’s a weird modern phenomenon that you always feel guilty for it.”

A “weird modern phenomenon” that never fails to sell, sell, sell, propelling lucrative yet problematic dialogues regarding women and their work. Do fathers generally get a raft of shit for say, not changing their baby’s diaper in six weeks? No. Moving on.

Working mom issues do warrant a very visible discussion — but a more authentic one that goes in the direction of decent maternity leave, affordable childcare, and flexible workplace schedules. Not just more I’m Such A Bad Mom Because I Work sound bites.

(photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com)