Last month, Jennifer Aniston made international headlines for penning a powerful piece for the Huffington Post about the scrutiny we bestow onto women.
In the piece she mentions the media's place saying:
“The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general, measured against some warped standard of beauty.”
The actress and producer received phenomenal praise globally for her frank words.
Possibly inspired by Aniston’s words, Renee Zellweger has also added her voice to the conversation.
Her piece, entitled “We Can Do Better,” openly addresses the rumours about the actress’s appearance.
“In the interest of tabloid journalism, which profits from the chaos and scandal it conjures and injects into people’s lives and their subsequent humiliation, the truth is reduced to representing just one side of the fictional argument. I can’t imagine there’s dignity in explaining yourself to those who trade in contrived scandal, or in seeking the approval of those who make fun of others for sport. It’s silly entertainment, it’s of no import, and I don’t see the point in commenting,” she writes.
Zellweger continues to state that her choice to write this piece was not to succumb to pressures, but instead to reclaim the truths about her life.
“I’m writing because to be fair to myself, I must make some claim on the truths of my life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling. The ‘eye surgery’ tabloid story itself did not matter, but it became the catalyst for my inclusion in subsequent legitimate news stories about self-acceptance and women succumbing to social pressure to look and age a certain way. In my opinion, that tabloid speculations become the subject of mainstream news reporting does matter.”
Zellweger states that she did not alter her eyes or her face through surgery.
She continues to write that a woman’s worth has historically been measured by her appearance.
“The resulting message is problematic for younger generations and impressionable minds, and undoubtedly triggers myriad subsequent issues regarding conformity, prejudice, equality, self-acceptance, bullying and health,” Zellweger writes.
She concludes the essay by suggesting that tabloid stories remain confined “to the candy jar of low-brow entertainment” and that mainstream media should focus on far more important and necessary conversations.
“Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character and how it impacts younger generations and struggles for equality, and about how legitimate news media have become vulnerable to news/entertainment ambiguity, which dangerously paves the way for worse fictions to flood the public consciousness to much greater consequence,” writes the star.
Read the essay in full
HERE.
