Jennifer Aniston has been a power player in Hollywood for decades, but is now making waves in the industry for different reasons.
Without holding back, the actress addresses the cruelty of the media and its destructive depiction of women, highlighting that the media reinforces a cycle of scrutiny and harsh examination for women everywhere.
Especially over the last couple years, Aniston has been under the watchful eye of the media, who have been relentlessly questioning her on whether or not she was going to marry boyfriend, Justin Theroux, and start a family. In 2015, the couple tied the knot, yet the tabloids couldn’t let the narrative stop there. Immediately after the wedding, rumors sparked that the couple were expecting a child.
In response, Aniston decided to write an article, titled “For The Record,” to openly explain her frustrations regarding the media-culture we live in and reveals the truth about her personal life.
“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.’”
Aniston makes it quite clear that she is not expecting a child and continues to say, “I want to focus on the bigger picture of what this insane tabloid ritual represents to all of us.” Immediately, Aniston begins by calling out the media for using journalism as an excuse for their “sport-like scrutiny and body shaming,” which is not only a perception that effects her, but is a perception that effects all women as a whole.
“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. 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.”
Aniston acknowledges that, as a celebrity, her image has an impact on us, as consumers of this idea, and how we begin to view ourselves. Constantly, we compare ourselves to the women we see in films, on TV, and in magazines. And according to this “insane tabloid ritual,” which has established a “warped standard of beauty,” they scrutinize celebrities and label them as ‘not good enough’ either.
While this vicious cycle is constructed and reinforced through the lens of the media, Aniston states that we, as consumers of this content, have the power to absorb what we choose. We have the power to decide whether or not we feed into this ridiculous narrative.
“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.”
Aniston suggests that feeding into this cycle is not only dangerous to us individually, but also as a collective whole, transferring these dangerous misconceptions to generations of little girls beyond us. She continues to write,
“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’?”
The media plays a huge role in this “dehumanizing view of females,” placing their value exclusively on a woman’s physical appearance rather than the multitude of other qualities that women actually encompass. Jennifer speaks on her individual experience as well, emphasizing that there are far more important issues that occur in our world than her personal life.
“This past month in particular has illuminated for me how much we define a woman’s value based on her marital and maternal status. The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth time… but who’s counting) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children. In this last boring news cycle about my personal life there have been mass shootings, wildfires, major decisions by the Supreme Court, an upcoming election, and any number of more newsworthy issues that “journalists” could dedicate their resources towards.”
The media also suggests that a woman’s marital and familial status must follow a certain social standard as well. Women are doubted if they are not married by a certain age or if they decide to not have children, a decision which is deeply personal and should not require the approval or involvement of others.
Aniston suggests a solution,
“Here’s where I come out on this topic: we are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone. Let’s make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples. Let’s make that decision consciously, outside of the tabloid noise. We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own ‘happily ever after’ for ourselves.”
The media creates an endless narrative that makes women feel bad if they’re not a size 2 or if they don’t choose “traditional” marital practices. Aniston states that we make the concious decision to choose what we want for ourselves in our own lives and we define our own “happily ever after,” away from this ridiculous narrative propelled by unreasonable societal standards. We decide want makes us happy, satisfied, and complete.
Aniston concludes,
“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.”
Aniston is realistic about the outcomes and knows that she can not change the media industry overnight, but what she does know is that she can use her platform as a voice of influence, encouragement, and confidence to women everywhere. Her hopes are to bring awareness and help expose this vicious, media-driven cycle, so that others can open their eyes to the detrimental effects it can have on ourselves and to the generations that follow us.
Personally, I completely agree with Aniston’s assessment. Through my own observations of the media, I have noticed that they constantly flood our televisions, magazines, and other digital platforms with negative, unconstructive news. We can not continue to allow the media to skew and alter our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us, because becoming dependent on this type of rational can be very dangerous.
In many ways, that’s why what we do here at Shareably is different. Rather than reinforce this toxic media cycle, we streamline our energy into sharing positivity and strive to provide our audience with inspiring and uplifting news, away from negative, mainstream media.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family and let’s encourage others, as well as ourselves, to define our own happily ever afters.
[Source: Huffington Post]
