Gwyneth Paltrow On Being Criticized By Other Women & New Life After Marriage Split

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow covers Harper’s Bazaar UK February 2015 issue and in the cover story for the magazine, she discussed with the interviewer about how she met and married her music star ex-husband Chris Martin while he was still 25, their "conscious uncoupling" last year, and her new life back in the United States.

She also shares her thoughts on how women relate with each other, and how personally she has been attacked by other women in the media and forum comments.

On how she met and married Chris Martin soon after her father died;

‘It was very fast. I feel like I would have died somehow if I hadn’t met him at that time. I felt like I was going to die of grief. I remember waking up, on one particular night, where I felt like I was having a heart attack and I couldn’t breathe... I lay on the floor of my apartment in London and I thought, “I’m not going to survive this.” And he just picked me up and he was so loving and patient through all my grieving."

On Chris Martin being 25 when they met and how that affected their marriage;

‘Men are very young at that age, and I was relying on him very heavily and I really expected him to keep being this grown man and pillar of strength – which he was and is – but it’s also quite an unfair set of criteria to give to someone who’s just 25 years old.’

On the situation of their marriage now;

‘It’s painful, it’s difficult, it might be easier to say, “I never want to see you again,” but what good does that do anyone? We’ve made a lot of mistakes, and we’ve had good days and bad days, but I have to say, I’m proud of us for working through so much stuff together – and not blaming and shaming.’

On her new life in LA after splitting with Chris Martin;

“There’s a deep comfort about it because it’s so familiar. The other day I was lying on the grass and the kids were playing and I was looking at the blue sky and the palm-trees – and there was something about the weather and the smell and I was, like, eight years old again. I had such a strong memory of being a kid here – it’s a really nice place to be a little kid, and it’s great to watch my children have that experience.”

On being criticized in the media by other women; 

“Women really need to examine why they’re so vitriolic to other women; why they want to twist words, why they want to read about someone else in a negative light and why that feels good to them… But I also know a huge tribe of women who are loving and supportive of other women, in ways that are completely transformative.”

On womens' right to define themselves as they choose; 

“I think we are a generation of women who are different in a lot of respects, and some of us want to be ambitious, and for it not to be a dirty word. We want to be feminine and soft, we want to be maternal, we want to be sexual, we want to be explorers – and we can be a combination of all of these archetypes. You can be powerful, but you can also be vulnerable… [I have] learnt the power of kindness and the importance of non-judgemental ways of looking at others.”

Read more - Harpers Bazaar