I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever used the phrase “the common woman” in all seriousness. I think I might have written it sarcastically, to make fun of some peasant-shading elitist, but I can’t say that it’s a phrase that comes rolling off the (peasant) tongue for me. But then again, I’m not constantly defending myself against charges of unbridled elitism. To be fair to Gwyneth Paltrow, she was not the first person in this CNN Money interview – she was asked how she thinks she has anything to say to “the common woman.” As in, the CNN interviewer asked her that. So… while I’m not giving Gwyneth a total pass, I think she was just rephrasing the question. I also think she truly believes that she has an enormous amount in common with the commoners. Some assorted quotes from Gwyneth’s CNN interview:
The purpose of Goop: “What we try to do at Goop is curate and to edit. We know that a woman’s time is her most precious resource and we want to multitask, get a lot done, and what we want to do is provide the best solutions.”
The common woman: “I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that I’m a woman and I’m a mother and we all are in a physical body with beating hearts with compassion and love we are all seekers…we all want fulfillment, we all want to live our best lives. We want to be healthy and happy and squeeze the most we can out of life. I think that’s all women.”
The perception that Goop is only for rich people: “I always say that when people make that false assumption, it’s because people haven’t actually gone to the site and seen what we’re selling and seen what we’re about… I think the idea is that we’re going to find the best thing and where it is at any price point.”
Don’t call her a lifestyle guru: “I see myself as an actor and a mother and as an entrepreneur. I don’t see myself as a guru at all. I’m not a guru because I’m the one asking the questions. I’m not purporting to know anything.”
She certainly has her talking points down – she said some similar things in her recent Wall Street Journal interview too. Do you really think Gwyneth Paltrow is down with the common woman? I think it’s interesting that she’s trying to seem like she is. I think it’s interesting that this is her new image. She’s no longer the snotty elitist deigning to speak to the common people, she’s trying to say that we are all women and we all go through the same crap. Are you buying it? And by “buying it” I mean “$5000 Goop-curated booty shorts.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Giiiiiiiirrrrrlllllll…
BYE!!!!
she was funny on Web Therapy though
Goop, Goop, Goop, will you ever learn?
Wasn’t this the same woman who said that she couldn’t pretend to know what it’s like to live on $25,000 a year? Now she’s down with the common woman? *snort*
Oh, just shut up, Goop.
Times a million!
The fact that she even used the term “common woman” just proves that she has no f’n clue what being a “common woman” is like.
She is uncommonly our of touch.
Reminds me of this: http://youtu.be/yuTMWgOduFM
I was thinking of this version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ainyK6fXku0
Exactly – who the hell uses that term anymore? I’ll bet not even the Queen of England uses it. But by using it she’s outed herself as thinking she IS above the “common” rabble, even though she can “understand” them. Who gave this bitch this ridiculous sense of entitlement? Someone once told her she was a princess, and she still believes it.
Is the same goop as the “I can’t pretend to be someone who makes $25,000 a year” goop? At least she realizes she has the same beating heart as someone who makes that amount, although her fat-free, Tracy Anderson sculpted heart is still better, and of course her blood is bluer.
Ha, ha! Thanks for the laugh Birdix. I like your way with words!
Ha ha ha – love this response!
Dear Gwyneth, please get off my side. Thank you.
I need a chancleta for her face.
And for that buggy, spider-eyed dress she’s got on in that pic. Where’s the heel of a shoe when you need one for smacking?
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
I don’t have a problem with a snooty little website that “curates” your lifestyle if that’s what you want. If you’re in her income bracket and want to pay $625 for a little pair of flats, or know what GOOP thinks are the best new restaurants in Paris, go for it. But why pretend it’s anything but that?
I don’t think Goop really knows what a ‘common’ woman is. She lived her entire life in some degree of one percent-ness with substantial connections in the industry, starting at third base. But she must know, on some level, since she basically says that what she has ‘in common’ is a human body. I don’t think she would have brought up similarities at all, had it not been asked of her. In the past, she has compared her role in motherhood as more difficult than the average Jane Q Public. I think she truly believes that. But I agree that she should simply state that her business is geared toward a luxury market.
Lol, I took away the same thing about Goop saying the only thing she has in common with the “common” woman is a human body, and, more specifically, a pulse.
People would respect her more if she were honest and admitted that her website was geared towards the small percentage of people who can afford to buy very expensive things,.
I couldn’t agree more. OWN your snobbery and I’ll OWN my bad fashion choices.
Yes – that’s what bugs me about her, she’s very clearly one thing but always trying to prove she’s something else. The site is full of ridiculous, overpriced things, but if that’s what she likes, then she should own it, instead of trying to convince us that it’s for everyone.
Eh, I give her a pass on her site being high end yet her claiming it to be for everyone, so are many of the companies/products marketed to the “common woman.” I think she was right when she called it aspirational. She is far from the only marketer to take this approach.
Exactly. She can’t, on one hand say, “it’s aspirational,” then on the other say, “this is for every woman.” Take one and own it. You can’t have it both ways,.
But the aspirational comment is the worst of all. I don’t aspire to better myself through consumerism. I mean yeah I’d like to be f%$k you rich and take crap from no one, who wouldn’t? But even filthy rich me can’t be bothered to care about her twee nonsense.
I agree. I think where she gets into real trouble is when she speaks of “common people” or says things like she has it harder than other working moms. If she just stayed in her elite stratosphere and didn’t try to pretend to be anything other than a rich bitch I think she’d be ok. I remember once she went on a diatribe about how any woman could afford a good bag if only she would stop buying several cheap bags.
I can’t believe she actually used that phrase. She is so entertaining in her delusion. Never change, Gwyneth! I used to criticize her every move but now, I’m captivated. She’s like a victimless traniwreck.
I really like the phrase ‘victimless trainwreck.’ There must be one of those perfect combo-words in another language for it? Hmm…
I could not agree more. I think I had this realization when there was a new celebrity death or Bill Cosby rape victim in the news every day. I found myself thinking: God, I would kill for a new Gwyneth peasant quote today or – dare I say it – a new ugly pants Kim Kardashian outfit to laugh at.
They are victimless train wrecks – they get to be rich and oblivious to real life and I love to hate them. They’re not self destructing so I don’t feel bad about it.
This is where Lindsay went wrong, she would have been good gossip but the victims were piling up in her case (including herself).
I think all her vag-steaming has melted her brain. $200 for a keychain and $260 for a pair of denim shorts? Thanks, but this ‘common’ woman will stick to thrift stores & Old Navy.
I’m sorry, what? Vag-steaming? What is that all about?
Gwynne made quite the to-do about going to some spa and getting a (probably extremely expensive) vaginal steam cleaning. I shit you not – Google “gwynneth paltrow vag steam” and it’s all there.
Oh for the love of… Just STOP. STOP.
The ONLY REASON she keeps talking like this is because her movie star days are over, the husband has moved on to younger starlets, and she’s now wanting to rebrand herself so she can (1) keep the riches flowing and (2) stay relevant and noteworthy. She wants the Minivan Majority’s money and admiration, but she’s too damn up her own a$$ to pull it off. Just STOP
Insert THAT’S ENOUGH gif. Srsly, Gwyneth-just stahp.
If you have to continually tell people how in touch you are with “the common woman”, then you aren’t one.
Not a gif., but with one look Tina Fey sums up my feelings about Goop and Gweneth.
http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/webdr01/2012/11/30/10/enhanced-buzz-20883-1354288794-3.jpg
“Yes, sometimes I’m standing right next to her while she’s scrubbing my floors.”
Scrubbing the floors with specialty, hand-raised, pure organic sea sponges of course. (Available on Goop for $300 a piece)
Thanks for the laugh.
I hope that was with recycled rainwater caught in an antique galvanized bucket by nuns in Switzerland.
This
Oh Goop…when you have stood on your feet for 8 to 10 hours a day, working a minimum wage job just to put food on the table and keep a roof above for your children, THEN you will be in touch with the common woman.
No vacations whatsoever, no reservations at any fancy restaurant,no fabulous wardrobe, no nannies, etc., just working your ass off, being everything a good mother is supposed to be for her children, while keeping your family’s heads above water.
F*k you Goop.
+1000000 Couldn’t have said it better
Thank you HELO! It’s common to worry about paying for your kids’ dental care and paying bills!
While having a lot of money doesn’t protect one from life’s heartache’s like loss of loved ones, divorce, miscarriages it’s true, it certainly helps when you’re trying to raise and support a family and give yourself the down time you need. She doesn’t understand the daily stresses that so many of us “middle class” women have. She has no idea what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, trying to pay for medical/dental bills or other unexpected expenses, not being able to give your kids music lessons, sports opportunities or vacations because you need to put food on the table and gas in the car and pay the electric bill. I bet she’s never had to miss a lot of work due to a sick kid and not being able to afford a date night because child care AND dinner out costs more than your budget can handle. I wish she’s just own that she’s caters to the affluent instead of saying stupid, ignorant things like understanding me and looking like she lacks self-awareness.
This!! As any typical elitist, she doesn’t have a clue.
@ Helo, I want your post tattooed somewhere. +infinity
“The common woman: “I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that I’m a woman and…”
I just, what to say about this?
someone help me out here.
Let’s play!:
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that _________________”
They crowd my space so much when I send my staff to this great little Moroccan store in NY, its so tiny, so charming but there are far too many peasants so I have to extricate myself and wait in my car outside”
I’ll bite.
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that _________________”
I once thought I saw a toilet brush that my cleaning commoners neglected to store in my $25,000 bathroom armoire! Turns out is was a wad of my over processed and bleached hair! I quickly called my cleaning commoners and they assured me it was leftovers from my last bush trim and not a chunk of hair that had fallen out. Whew!
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that
_________________”
The last time I was in the Hamptons, I actually took my kids into the Old Hampton Ice Cream Parlour – ME!!!! Of course it was full of peons but I just held my breath (cuz’ you know they have that funny smell) and I stepped right up to the counter and bought Moses and Apple ice cream!!! Only I just had a $1000 bill so of course they didn’t have enough money in the till to make change and for some reason I’d forgotten my Amex Triple Platinum card so I just sent one of my minions in afterwards with the correct change, PLUS a tip. So yes, I’d say I’m very close to the common woman.” *smiles smugly*
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that
_________________”
I didn’t cringe or even shower after she grazed my shoulder in the Whole Foods market.
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman in that _____________”
Once when we were really drunk on Cristal in Bey & Jay’s limo we went to Popeye’s in Harlem on a dare and I ate a greasy fried chicken wing. WITH MY HANDS, baby. That ish was the jam. See, I don’t even need to brag about this stuff, I’m just that close to the common woman. I’m down with it — I don’t need to Tweet about it. Bey was like, ugh, how could you, but I have this great Hungarian colon therapist who uses distilled platinum-filtered water with negatively-charged gold dust. The gold particles attract all the grease, it all gets rinsed out and your whole colon is fresh and new like a baby’s.
Lol Those are awesome
“I’m incredibly close to the common woman…” and the common woman is trying like hell to gtf away from you like you are the wind broken by the rude person next to you.
I’m sure she just meant that she accidentally stood close to a common woman once!!
This one needs to sit down and shut up.
Oh goopy! How I enjoy you! I didn’t know you did comedy??!! You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and raised with a platinum stick up your ass (Ok, maybe platinum is too “bougie” – love you Cookie Lyon!), so don’t be telling us plebs you’re “incredibly close” to us!! Be the elitist, snobby bitch you are! Just Keep telling me to steam my vag and try to sell me overpriced crap…just don’t try to sell me the idea you’re just like me! You are better than me and never let me forget it!!!
s
t?
I wonder whether the women working on her website – spending their days sifting through luxury goods they’ll never be able to afford – realize that ‘time is their most precious resource’?
Employee discount?
She’s become so good with her talking points! She should run for office!
I see “common women” who have better hair. Most women have to try really hard to get the life she was born with. I don’t think she knows what a common woman is really.
Let’s just say I’m looking forward to the day when we lose the overused and oh-so-precious words “curate”, “journey” and “seeker” from our commercial language. I don’t need any non-expert ‘curating’ a damn thing for me to buy. I don’t need any lectures about how to enhance my life’s ‘journey’ with your products, and you can keep your pseudo-psychological and pseudo-spiritual ‘seeking’ crap all to yourself. Thankyouverymuch.
And yes, I’ve visited the site, and yes, it’s just ridiculous. And yes, I even earn a whole lot more than the “commom woman” to which you refer.
Yeah, curate especially is being overused.
I will give her credit for one reasonably priced item – of the 12 pairs of jeans she has for sale right now, one is only $60. The rest range from $275-$960, of course, because who doesn’t need to spend a thousand bucks on Valentino jeans!?
I think I love you, Tracy.
So well written.
Wouldn’t the more common phrase be “everyday woman”?
She’s just shifting the gender of the, er, common phrase “the common man”, I wouldn’t hold that against her. Although I’m still confused about the term “curate” popping up everywhere very recently and am not sure exactly what it means in these new contexts. I only knew the word in the context of museum curator, meaning the person who ran the museum as far as I knew. I sure it must be a related meaning but I don’t think I could properly use it in a sentence yet. Not complaining, language changes all the time. But this shift seems really recent to me.
She’s just trolling at this point, yes?
Nah, I think she’s really that dense.
The Lady doth protest too much, methinks.
I mean, come on. If you have to actually say those words out loud, you are most likely full of sh*t.
She is soooo annoying!!!!
Goop is pretentious ,but she was only repeating what the interviewer said. I don’t think she meant anything by it.
Polly wants a cracker!
I DON’T understand, what EXACTLY is it that we want her to do? What do we expect from her?
When she talks about her upbringing and her privilege, she gets knocked. When she tries to find common threads between her and a woman who didn’t grow up with the same circumstances, she’s told to “sit down.” If you were her publicist, business partner, or even friend, WHAT would you tell her to say??
And believe it or not there ARE a few things she has in common with other women: YES, she IS a mother, she’s had miscarriages, she’s been through breakups and divorces, lost and gained friends – as well as pounds…she didn’t lie when she shared those things.
I don’t see saying wrong with saying that we all want to be healthy and live our best lives either. I think it’s the unfortunate use of “the common woman” phrase that the reporter used that is so difficult to not see when coming out of her mouth. She also has a natural sort of irritating, neediness about her that is confusing and odd. She hasn’t learned that people who own who they are and make no apologies for it are cool.
Agree 100%. She’s damned if she does or doesn’t now. I can’t defend GOOP the site because I rarely look at it unless I’m getting ready to travel to a city she’s reviewed (her London and Paris pharmacy reccs are awesome and VERY affordable). She is aspirational. She knows it and we all know it and so we’re not pretending. The CNN reporter is at fault for asking an asinine question.
Gwyneth strikes me as bizarrely insecure about herself. She seems to want so badly to be LIKED. I just don’t understand the point.
Okay, where are the cameras? This is a Joaquin Phoenix level troll, yes?
This woman’s problem is that no one has ever put her in the stocks in the town square and invited the public to see a sock shoved firmly down her throat.
I’d pay to watch!
Epic eye roll from this Common Woman.
To even use the phrase ‘common woman’ is demeaning to all women who are not movie stars or celebrities. GOOP really needs to keep her trap shut. She is forever sticking her huge feet in it!
It’s like nodding your head when you’re saying no.
I don’t dislike her as much as a lot of other commenters do but she seriously needs to own her snobbery and stop trying to front that she’s just like us regular folk.
She has an uncanny ability to take a haute couture garment and make it look like it came from Walmart. Somehow she always makes clothes look unflattering. I dare you to name one outfit she’s worn that makes you say, “damn, I want to add that to my wardrobe”. One, just ONE.
I know that she is customarily referred to as “elitist,” but that only rings true in the very modern (since Reagan) and now negative definition/connotation. Prior to that it referred to the intelligentsia primarily and was an accolade. She’s not educated and clearly not all that bright, so I’ll never refer to her as elitist, as she simply isn’t. The funny part is that intellectually, she’s an utter peasant. Hell, even Yahoo! wouldn’t hire her due to her lack of education. For me, that will always be her legacy. Couldn’t even get a cushy blog job with lowbrow Yahoo!. And, her constant gaffs uphold my opinion pretty well I think. She hasn’t clue one.
Very well said.
I am pretty sure she knows exactly what she is doing. You don’t get invited to speak at a new business conference with the CEO from Uber, Microsoft and Google if you are a hack.
True. However, you might get ‘invited’ if u know the right people and move in the right circles with the right connections.
You do if you’re a hack who calls Steven Speilberg “Uncle Steven.”
HAH. The hits just keep on rolling with her.
Yes, it’s true that all living, human women have a beating heart. Too cynical?
First off, just referring to us as the “common woman” is ridiculously offensive. There is nothing common about any one of us. Seriously, she refers to us a commoners? Are we in 18th century England with royalty ruling?
Everything she said about the “common woman” is really more about just being a human being. I don’t see anything she said that has to do with being a woman or low-to middle-class. Wanting to love and be loved and fulfilled, beating heart, blah blah blah, that’s merely a list of some of the base needs and the anatomy of any homosapien.
One need only defer to her advice on how any of us peasants could have at least one nice purse if we didn’t buy a bunch of cheap ones and just saved up for one expensive designer purse and that if we can’t figure that out, we’re stupid and don’t deserve nice things. That one small bit of insight into her mentality says it all. She has no idea about money in the real world. No idea about a regular joe’s priorities. No idea about what a person deserves v. what a person is born into. She is vomit-inducing.
P.S. Have any of you read the article on CNN about Ashley Judd’s twitter threats and her response? It is awesome. I’ve never cared for Ashley Judd, but now I think I may be in love. There have been three items on Celebitchy in the last two days about KK, but nothing about Ashley Judd or Maria Shriver on women’s roles re Alzheimers (which was deeply moving). We like our smut news but there are also celebrity-related stimulating topics. KK isn’t one of them.
misread the headline as “I’m incredibly close to a common woman”
a common woman from beverly hills
Ok, I went to her stupid site. The cheapest thing I found was a $12 lip conditioner. But there aren’t many items under $100.
There’s a $200 key chain, by the way.
She’s full of shit, and needs to shut up.
I am pretty sure she makes those statements on purpose, just to get some headlines. She is a business woman after all, her market is women and they fall for that.
On the other hand, she is a mother of 2, seems very hands on with her kids. I believe her that she does the cooking at home and picking up the kids from school. I don’t think she is a typical -the nanny takes care of the kids- Hollywood mom. So I don’t really get why people think she is completely out of touch.
WHat are you chasing in this life if you think Gwyneth should be someone to aspire to? No, she’s not LIndsay Lohan, but she’s pretty snobby, materialistic and fake too. What is the allure?
Wow…just by calling those “beneath her” as common…she REALLY does not get it- AT ALL.
Just keep digging goopy…
Oh please, Goop IS for rich people. Everything about it screams lots of money.
And most importantly, Goop, just so you know, no woman is “common”. OK?
I like her. Women are just jealous only because she is tall, blond and has money. Typical.
Oh please, that jealous excuse again. And men must automatically love her because she’s thin, rich, and a woman with the necessary functioning plumbing…see what I did there?
Not everything is black and white, either/or. Did it ever occur to you that women AND men can dislike someone because of his/her attitude, personality, lack of talent, etc.? With Gwyneth, it’s her constant pretentious behavior (which is a mask for her insecurity) and her denial that she’s famous because of age-old Hollywood nepotism (like Dakota Johnson). She wouldn’t be where she is now without the advantage of family connections, namely the influential help of Steven Spielberg.
Would be nice to have her money, though, but I’m not jealous of her relationships and especially not of her appearance. I’m slim, a half inch taller, my hair isn’t fried like hers, my skin is much better because I’ve always worn sunscreen. I’m close in age, but look a decade younger thanks to genetics and the aforementioned sunscreen. There’s nothing to be jealous about a famewhore who’ll do any desperate song and dance to get attention and money from the public.
@Mike: LOL!…no, I don’t believe any person here is even remotely jealous of Goop.
Goop is simply a snotty, out of touch woman that people dislike, because she is snotty and out of touch and, says stupid offensive things.
So I went to check out goop.com for the first time… or maybe the first time in many many years. I saw a cute little product and lo and behold… a $200 Stella McCartney keychain! Common woman as I am, I cannot afford that shit.
Instead of saying ‘the average woman’ she still has to be condescending and say ‘common woman’.
The phrase “the common woman” wasn’t her choice – the reporter used it in the question and she just repeated it in her answer, which people do in such interviews. It’s a focusing strategy to repeat parts of the question in a response. It’s not derogatory, just a gender-shifted version of the very old phrase “the common man”. Old-fashioned, perhaps, but I doubt that either she or the reporter meant it as “I’m so much better than you peons”.
So she sells stuff for people who have a lot of money to spare. So what? Unless she puts a gun to my head and forces me to buy it, I’m not bothered. It all stimulates the economy, and eventually it pays somebody’s rent and buys somebody’s groceries. She has a market for her stuff that just doesn’t include me. So does the car sales guy down the street or the jeweler downtown. I feel like I need a bank loan to go shopping in the produce department. I couldn’t find the price on some peaches and asked the manager “is the price missing because if you have to ask, you can’t afford it?” and he completely understood!
She does have plenty in common with the financially less well endowed, money doesn’t shield you from life’s heartaches although at least it removes the stress about paying bills. That’s big, but I wouldn’t sneer at somebody just because they can afford what I can’t. I also wouldn’t sneer at someone lucky enough to not absolutely have to work long hours at a job they hate. I have much more flexibility in my job than most because I’m freelance and work at home. I don’t think that makes me sneerworthy, just lucky (but I had to work very long hours for years to get the background I needed, it’s hard to find a part of my body that doesn’t hurt these days while up against deadlines, and the lousy economy means I have to work harder for a lot less now, so there’s that).
So I don’t really get the Goop hate. So she doesn’t know how it is for those of us who [fill in the blank]. Few people do understand what it’s like to live differently from themselves, that’s not a crime, just being human. She seems harmless and nice to her kids.
Goop is, and always will be the most clueless snot in the universe.
Yes, because the best solutions to all my problems is a bath in my bedroom or a £400 candle. I call bullsh*t.