Hey, we know we need as many powerful female role models as we can get right now. But rather than feeling empowered, the most recent interview with Glamour by prolific novelist Danielle Steel made us feel criticized and dejected. In actuality, it’s pretty much everything that feeds into the illusion that “moms need to physically do it all” and sends so many of us into severe anxiety and sadness.
The best-selling novelist has written 179 books and had nine children, but she claims that burnout and the need for a break are “millennial afflictions.” We apologise. I take offense, Ms. Steel, because this writer is a Gen Xer who enjoys sleep.
According to Glamour, Steel spoke to her son and his partner, who are both in their 20s, when she mentioned this “millennial disease.” Evidently, her son was bragging about how he always finishes work by a fair time and enjoys free food, beer, and video games at his contemporary workplace. Steel found this to be irritating. They anticipate enjoying themselves, she remarked. But in my opinion, your 20s and a significant portion of your 30s should be spent working hard to improve your quality of life in later years. I mean, at 25, I never anticipated that quality of life. I worked three jobs at once, and I wrote after work. It is now a promise that everything will be enjoyable.
Okay, okay, we understand the dissatisfaction with the idea that “everyone gets a cool workplace with free beer by age 25” — and how that may be very unpleasant for people whose lives don’t contain that degree of privilege. However, we find Steel’s dismissal of sleep offensive, particularly given that she is a mother. We must draw the line there. Steel works 20 to 22 hours every day, claims Glamour. You read that correctly; And about twice a month, when she experiences “the crunch,” she will forgo her lazy-ass two to four hours of beauty sleep and instead work nonstop all night in her cashmere nightgown: “Dead or alive, rain or shine, I get to my desk and I do my work. I sometimes complete a book in the morning and start a new project in the afternoon, she said to the magazine.
Gee, Danielle, that’s great. I’m in the middle of my career and I’ve never had: 1) an office with IPA on tap. 2) a cashmere nightgown OR 3) the capacity to function reasonably well as a working mother on, oh, say, six hours of sleep each night on a regular basis. Does that mean I’m a useless piece of garbage? No. Also, Ms. Steel, if I may be so bold: While you worked 22 to 24 hours a day, who the hell was taking care of your nine kids? This doesn’t make sense in some way. Smoke, mirrors, and invisible childcare are lovely if you can have them, but most people couldn’t imagine living with nine children they might only see for 30 seconds in the morning at the toaster.
Whether or not Steel intended to offend a whole group of working mothers who are trying to balance responsibilities for their children, aging parents, employment, household chores, a personal life (ha! ha! ha! ), perhaps a marriage or partnership, and self-care to keep from going over the edge, she did.
When Steel discussed her 2017 novel Dangerous Games with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, the author revealed, “I’m usually juggling around five [projects] at a time… It’s thrilling, like jumping through fire hoops.
It almost feels as though Steel and sleep are at odds. I don’t go to bed until I’m so exhausted that I could sleep on the floor, she admitted to Glamour. Four hours is actually a terrific night for me if I have them.
It is important to note that Steel, who is 71, dodged the interviewer’s question concerning whether or not her advanced age had even the slightest effect on her performance. She said, “I want to die face down in my typewriter” (something she said Agatha Christie once told her). Damn.
Therefore, in Steel’s opinion, self-care or balance for working mothers is for snowflakes, just like sleep. Oh, and coffee as well: Steel only consumes decaf coffee, dry bread (you can’t make this stuff up), and bitter chocolate bars. And the sobbing of women like me who are curious as to whether she is actually a robot.
Is this woman acting appropriately? That depends on how you define “correct,” I suppose. After all, each and every one of her works has achieved phenomenal success. By that standard, I would agree that she is succeeding.
In her advanced age, is Steel softening at all? She did acknowledge to Glamour that she might, just might, wish she had “a little more fun.” However, don’t worry; she’s on it owing to her Paris shopping and a week off in the south of France, where she claims to read some books besides her own drafts.
Is Steel’s lifestyle and route to achievement something I’d want for myself overall, fame and money aside? Oh, no way. Is it something that other working moms—really, any mom—should strive for? Really, we don’t believe that. However, you do you. After all, lack of sleep and poor self-care are both well-researched and established weaknesses (and not by random snowflakes and afflicted millennials either).
People, burnout is real. Additionally, mental wellness is both genuine and shaky. On this severe self-imposed regimen, too many people would perilously close to hitting their personal bottom. Steely Steel may attest to its effectiveness, but there are just too many risks associated with enjoying such a work-focused way of life. I’ll refrain, please, and I’m hoping my mother-friends will as well. because both my bed and my children are calling. I can finish my task tomorrow after working hours. even if it means I never appear on the list of New York Times bestsellers.