It’s not everyday you can relate to an anecdote shared by a Hollywood actress but I suspect a lot of us will in relation to a story Jennifer Garner shared yesterday. Speaking at an Elle magazine Women in Hollywood event the actress explained how she and her husband Ben Affleck, with whom she has three children, swapped notes after spending the same day doing press interviews.
Every single journalist Garner met with asked her how she balances work with her family. Not a single person posed that question to Affleck who incidentally, as Garner pointed out, has the same family and family responsibilities as she does. He actually said he’s never been asked that. On the day in question though Affleck was asked, most consistently, about the breasts belonging to one of his co-stars.
You might not relate to the second part of that story but the first part certainly rings true. I have written previously that the way to tackle this dichotomy is two-fold. Men need to be asked the same question and they need to be prodded if their answer is along the lines of “I work and my wife juggles.”
Similarly I have argued that as frustrating as it is, women still need to answer so they can help, inspire and guide other parents – men and women – to do the same.
Before relaying this story and asking the room to consider reframing the conversation Garner began her speech by lamenting the fact “Women in Hollywood” events are important or noteworthy.
“I mean, the ‘Men in Hollywood’ event is every day. It’s called Hollywood,” she joked. “Fifty-one percent of the population should not have to have to schedule a special event to celebrate the fact that in an art that tells the story of what it means to be human and alive, we get to play a part.”