Jennifer Aniston Calls Motherhood Pressure ‘Unfair’ to Women
For years, people have speculated about why Jennifer Aniston hasn’t had children
— -- Actress Jennifer Aniston is a Hollywood superstar and is considered America’s sweetheart -- but she’s also not afraid to speak her mind about some of the hurtful rumors that have circulated about her.
In an interview with Allure magazine, the “Friends” star was asked to name the most difficult thing she’s ever battled in the press.
“Oh, God, so many painful things. The accusation that I’ve put my career before the want, the desire to be a mother. This continually is said about me: that I was so career-driven and focused on myself; that I don’t want to be a mother, and how selfish that is.”
She said the intense scrutiny feels like “an unfair pressure” on women, not just her.
“I have a lot of friends who decided not to have children, who can’t have children, or are trying but are having a difficult time. There’s all sorts of reasons why children aren’t in people’s lives, and no one has the right to assume. It’s quite rude, insulting, and ignorant,” she says. “I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women – that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated. I don’t think it’s fair. You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t mothering -- dogs, friends, friends’ children.”
Having to put up with the rumors and comments hasn’t gotten easier with time, Aniston, 45, said.
“Even saying it gets me a little tight in my throat,” she said.
The actress is hitting a high note in her already very successful career. Last week she received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for her acclaimed turn in the film, “Cake.”
Aniston says her fiancé, 43-year-old actor Justin Theroux, is right by her every step of the way. In the interview, she spoke glowingly of Theroux.
“We’re equals,” she says. “He’s a nurturer. He is so fiercely loyal. Beyond protective. I mean, the way he takes care of our dogs, he takes care of me, he takes care of friends.”
Aniston did not share any news about her pending nuptials to Theroux. Speculation about when the pair would wed has been rampant since they announced their engagement in the summer of 2012.
The only Aniston would say about it to Allure was: “We do talk about it all the time."