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ICYMI, Jennifer Aniston penned an inspirational essay for Huffington Post yesterday about how publishing tabloid rumors (especially ones that essentially body shame the subject) actually hurt women everywhere. Aniston has been the unwilling subject of countless trash stories, and after a recent rumor that she “looked pregnant” went viral, she put her foot down.
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.”
… The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. 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. Sometimes cultural standards just need a different perspective so we can see them for what they really are — a collective acceptance… a subconscious agreement. We are in charge of our agreement. Little girls everywhere are absorbing our agreement, passive or otherwise. And it begins early. 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”?
Can I just scream YAS for a second? YAAASSSSSSSSSSSSS. Aniston’s message rings true, and many critics have deemed the piece “required reading.” But of course, Piers Morgan, the quintessential a**hole of the media, insisted on tearing her down in a new article for the Daily Mail.
Before ripping into her, Morgan made it clear to readers that he “liked her.” He complimented her beauty, acting talent, and genuine personality. He also sympathizes with Aniston for people thinking she looks pregnant. “The unspoken implication is obvious,” he states. “‘You’re looking fatter than usual.'”
How sweet. We’re sure she’s honored.
But the main issue Morgan had with Aniston’s piece was her idea of media objectification and body shaming. According to him, she’s part of the problem.
There’s another reason why the media objectify and scrutinise famous women, and why little girls get confused about beauty and body image.
It’s this: female stars like Jennifer Aniston deliberately perpetuate the myth of ‘perfection’ by posing for endless magazine covers which have been airbrushed so much that in some cases the celebrity is virtually unrecognisable.
…I don’t know the inner workings of each magazine or photo shoot, but I do know with my old newspaper editor hat on that almost all these cover shots had clearly been airbrushed to make Jennifer look even more perfect than she already is.
Cellulite’s been removed, crease-lines decreased, pimples expunged.
In many of them, this detailed work has continued to the rest of her semi-naked or even fully naked body; thighs trimmed, butts toned, the vaguest suggestion of bingo wings eliminated.
Ouch. He does have a point, but Morgan is missing one huge part of the argument: Aniston isn’t the person behind the lens or the person doing the photoshop job. She’s literally a helpless subject with no say in WTF is happening behind the scenes. Regardless, he states, “Once you put your body up for lucrative gain, I’m afraid you have to accept a level of scrutiny and debate that comes with it.”
LOL. WHAT?! She’s a celebrity doing publicity… people are telling her what to do… this is a HUGE stretch and you sound like an a**hole.
Sadly it gets worse: “BUT… I do think the least stars like Jennifer Aniston can do in return for the massive financial and career boost these fake covers bring them is to stop pretending it’s all everyone else’s fault that impressionable young girls struggle with their own beauty and body images as a result of seeing perfect photos of Jennifer Aniston.”
Sure, people can be like Amy Shumer and openly denounce publications that wrongfully photoshop them, but he’s missing the point. CAN’T A GIRL WALK AROUND THE BEACH IN PEACE WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY THAT PEOPLE THINK SHE’S PREGNANT?!
According to Morgan, no she can’t. Because if you’re Jennifer Aniston, you’re practically asking for it.
