Why are men applauded for changing a diaper? That’s what Keira Knightley wants to know.
“It’s really rare to see a guy at children’s (daycare), and if he is, people say, ‘Ooh, what a lovely dad. Look at him looking after his own children,” Knightley, 35, told HelloGiggles. “You would never say that to a woman.”
The British actress, who shares daughters, Edie, 5, and Delilah, 1, with her husband, rocker James Righton, noted that working fathers are rarely asked about work-life balance.
“Why do we not engage men in that conversation?” Knightley wondered. “Why do we not expect a working man to be looking after their children as much as their partner is? Why do we assume that they don’t feel guilty about not spending enough time with their children as well?”
She added that men are given a "free pass" when it comes to child care.
Earlier this year, Knightley revealed that Righton is never quizzed about who is caring for their kids.
“It’s not expected that men should look after their children, it’s seen as a bonus," she said while speaking with Porter. "Even in the workplace, my husband is never asked about childcare, whereas that would be asked of me: ‘So what are you doing with the kids?’”
Knightley, a feminist activist, who rose to fame in her teens, has spoken out on several occasions about the objectification she’s faced in Hollywood.
Last year, on the “Feminists Don’t Wear Pink” podcast, Knightley claimed that her 2002 film “Bend It Like Beckham,” was originally pitched as a “sexy (soccer) film” with “girls in shorts.”
She also recalled being hounded by paparazzi and reporters after the “King Arthur” premiere in 2004.
“There were 10 men outside my door screaming at me and they didn’t leave for about the next four years,” she said. “Suddenly it was all about whatever boyfriend I might have or might not have, how thin I was or how thin I wasn’t, or what my lips were like or had I had plastic surgery.”