Jennifer Aniston furious with absurd scrutiny of women
Jennifer Aniston is furious and fed up with the media speculation about whether she is or isn’t pregnant.
In an open letter, published in The Huffington Post, Jennifer addresses rumours and the perception that all women should be mothers and wives.
“Let me start by saying that addressing gossip is something I have never done. I don’t like to give energy to the business of lies, but I wanted to participate in a larger conversation that has already begun and needs to continue. Since I’m not on social media, I decided to put my thoughts here in writing,” she wrote.
“For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of “journalism,” the “First Amendment” and “celebrity news.” she added.
Jennifer went on to talk about how women are labelled incomplete in some way if they don’t have a child or husband.
“We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child.”
“We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.”
The former Friends star, has never hidden her desire to be a mother one day, but she’s had enough of the media speculation on when and has now taken a stand for all women.
“The constant scrutiny, particularly over the past month, shows how wider society perceives women.
“It ‘has illuminated for me how much we define a woman’s value based on her marital and maternal status…(and) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children,” Aniston wrote.
“Yes, I may become a mother some day, and since I’m laying it all out there, if I ever do, I will be the first to let you know. But I’m not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way.”
“I resent being made to feel ‘less than’ because my body is changing and/or I had a burger for lunch and was photographed from a weird angle and therefore deemed one of two things: ‘pregnant’ or ‘fat’.”
The Hollywood star, who was previously married to Brad Pitt, added: “The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.”
“The message that girls are not pretty unless they’re incredibly thin, that they’re not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actress on the cover of a magazine is something we’re all willingly buying into. This conditioning is something girls then carry into womanhood.”
“We use celebrity “news” to perpetuate this dehumanizing view of females, focused solely on one’s physical appearance, which tabloids turn into a sporting event of speculation. Is she pregnant? Is she eating too much? Has she let herself go? Is her marriage on the rocks because the camera detects some physical “imperfection”?”
She ended by reflecting on the practices of tabloids and the hope that one day things will change.
“From years of experience, I’ve learned tabloid practices, however dangerous, will not change, at least not any time soon. What can change is our awareness and reaction to the toxic messages buried within these seemingly harmless stories served up as truth and shaping our ideas of who we are. We get to decide how much we buy into what’s being served up, and maybe some day the tabloids will be forced to see the world through a different, more humanized lens because consumers have just stopped buying the bullshit.”
