It’s no secret that we live in a society that’s far too quick to critique, judge and sometimes even ridicule celebrities, simply because they exist. It seems that more often than not, body shaming is at the centre of the comments directed at famous women, which is a pretty sad reality to face.
Thankfully though, more and more women who live their lives in the spotlight are calling out individuals and industries for the way they continue to be treated. And Renee Zellweger has some really sensible stuff to say that is definitely worth paying attention to.
If you cast your mind way back to 2014, you might remember there being lots of talk in the tabloids about Renee supposedly having had plastic surgery. Well the fact of the matter is that no, she didn’t, and wait, why was it even a thing?
In an essay for the Huffington Post called ‘We Can Do Better’, Renee explained that she wanted to ‘make some claim on the truths of [her] life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling.’
She said: ‘Not that it’s anyone’s business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes.
‘This fact is of no true import to anyone at all, but that the possibility alone was discussed among respected journalists and became a public conversation is a disconcerting illustration of news/entertainment confusion and society’s fixation on physicality.’
Which is absolutely true, right? Time and time again we come across headlines based on whether or not this celebrity is pregnant or how beach body ready that other celebrity is. You can’t help but wonder why, as a society, we’re so fascinated by the way women look? And why is it so often in such a negative - and lets face it, unhealthy - light?
‘It’s no secret a woman’s worth has historically been measured by her appearance’, Renee writes.
She adds: ‘The resulting message is problematic for younger generations and impressionable minds, and undoubtably triggers myriad subsequent issues regarding conformity, prejudice, equality, self acceptance, bullying and health.’
It’s a concern that so many women, both famous and otherwise, have had for so long, and the worrying thing is that this sort of crappy commentary continues to happen. Let’s hope people continue to call it out, and hopefully start wider conversations around the problem.
Like this, you might also be interested in:
There’s No Way Of Looking At Orlando Bloom’s Willy Pics Without Being A Massive Hypocrite
This Model Shaming Another Woman Proves How Judgemental We Still Are About Eachother’s Bodies
Slut-Shaming Taylor Swift Just Undoes All Our Hard Work For Sexual Equality
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.