Why Jennifer Aniston's essay on women in Hollywood is 'required reading'
In a column, Jennifer Aniston wrote, 'The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.'
In a column, Jennifer Aniston wrote, 'The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.'
Actress Jennifer Aniston is 鈥渇ed up鈥 with the way women are portrayed in the media, and other celebrities and industry observers are praising a column she recently penned about these issues.聽
Ms. Aniston, who has recently appeared in films such as 鈥淢other鈥檚 Day,鈥 鈥淗orrible Bosses 2,鈥 and 鈥淐ake,鈥 discussed the portrayal of women in an online column for the Huffington Post that was posted on July 12.聽
In it, she wrote that she is "not pregnant. What I am is fed up.聽I鈥檓 fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of 鈥榡ournalism,鈥 the 'First Amendment' and 鈥榗elebrity news'.... If I am some kind of symbol to some people out there, then clearly I am an example of the lens through which we, as a society, view our mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, female friends and colleagues. The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.鈥澛
Aniston addressed what she called 鈥渟ome warped standard of beauty.鈥澛
鈥淲e are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淲e get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone. Let鈥檚 make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples.鈥澛
One fellow actress who praised the column is Melissa McCarthy of 鈥淕hostbusters,鈥 who said she supports Aniston鈥檚 views 鈥渙ne hundred thousand billion percent鈥 in an interview with 鈥淓ntertainment Tonight.鈥
Meanwhile, Lauren Alexis Fisher of Harper鈥檚 Bazaar called Aniston鈥檚 essay 鈥減owerful,鈥 while Heidi Stevens of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the 鈥渆ssay should be required reading 鈥 [It] perfectly captures the way we dehumanize anyone with a modicum of fame, and how that dehumanizing seeps into the air we breathe.鈥