martinimade

There is a great moment on Scandal when Cyrus says, "Being a mother isn't a job." With three kids of your own, do you agree with that?

Rhimes: I feel very strongly about that statement. When I put it in, we had a big talk about it in the writer's room. They were like, "Shonda!" and I was like, "It's true!" You cannot quit being a mother. Calling it a job belittles it. It goes part and parcel with the whole idea of motherhood as a sacrifice. Some site tweeted, "Getting no sleep when you have a newborn is a badge of honor!" And I was like, No it's not! It sucks! And we should be able to say it sucks. The greeting cards that are like, Mother, you sacrificed so much for me -- the glorification of mothers who are doormats for their children? Where is the greeting card that's like, Mother, thank you for teaching me how to be a CEO? Mother, thank you for teaching me how to make money? Mother, thank you for teaching me how to kick ass and take names? Those are the greeting cards that I want my child to get when she is a mother. So when people are like, "Oh, it's the most important job you'll ever have"? No. The most important job I'll ever have is my job.

-- From Entertainment Weekly's interview with Shonda Rhimes, who kicks ass and takes names.

Plus my most recent AMR column is now live: About that 5K.