Even with no children, we still have opinions
Kelly Brook did a terrible thing this week. She appeared on ITV’S Loose
Women (that wasn’t the terrible thing, bear with me) and then proceeded to proffer an opinion. You might expect a 38-year-old woman in full possession of her faculties to be allowed to express her own thoughts in public, but Kelly chose to talk about something deeply contentious. Yes, that’s right: she spoke about children despite not being a mother herself.
Pass the smelling salts! Intake your breath sharply! For it is a truth universally acknowledged that if one is a woman of a certain age who has failed to procreate, one is never allowed to say anything about motherhood without being roundly condemned by the Offended Mums Brigade.
All that Brook said was that she found it irritating when, in a work setting, women failed to meet deadlines or turn up for their appointments and used their children as an excuse.
She also pointed out that, as someone who didn’t have her own children, she didn’t always understand the pressures, which seems a perfectly reasonable statement to make. But Twitter was soon in uproar, calling her “smug” and “judgmental”.
Just because Brook doesn’t have her own children, doesn’t mean she has no contribution to make. I have no biological kids of my own, but I have been a stepmother, I am an aunt and I do have nine godchildren. My life is full of children and I’ve seen examples of both good and bad parenting. Not being able to express an opinion about any of it is ludicrous.
I’m entitled to my views, just as
Kelly should feel free to air hers.