It’s no secret that publications will find a way to hate on everything about any female celebrity, attacking their face, hair, proportions—everything about a woman down to her feet. The media far too commonly focuses on a woman’s body rather than her talent.
But why does the media feel so comfortable attacking a woman’s looks? The simple answer is often the right one. And the simple answer in this case is misogyny.
For most of history, women have been known as objects, as human incubators. It was only 51 years ago that women were even allowed to own credit cards. While women have made great strides in the world, you can’t just undo thousands of years of thinking. Internalized misogyny runs deep.
Women and men alike feel comfortable attacking and judging women’s bodies because it’s the way it’s always been. It may be normalized to critique a woman’s appearance, but it doesn’t make it any less detrimental or disgusting.
A topic that comes up often when it comes to women’s appearances is aging. Aging puts women in a lose-lose situation. If they get Botox or fillers or any kind of plastic surgery, they’re called out for not aging gracefully or hating their natural body. Still, if they decide to let their bodies age naturally, they’re “past their prime” and simply too old to be in the spotlight.
Case in point: Canadian news anchor Lisa LaFlemme. Laflemme was an award-winning, highly respected figure in her field, but in 2022, she was fired from her position at Canadian TV (CTV) National News after she stopped coloring her hair and let it go grey. She had been in that position for 10 years. A senior executive reportedly asked, ¨Who approved the decision to let Lisa’s hair go grey?¨ (The Guardian).
It didn’t matter the length of Laflemme’s tenure, her capability, or her skill to the executives at CTV; optics were of paramount importance. The executives at CTV didn’t like the look of an older woman embracing their body and graying hair. A depressing, but common experience for women in the entertainment industry.
For magazines and tabloids, a more prevalent concern is women’s weight. Even megafamous stars are not immune to this discussion.In her documentary, Miss Americana, Taylor Swift admitted that the constant discourse on her weight in the media drove her to stop eating. What felt like every day, a different magazine would be discussing her weight gain or saying she looked pregnant. At the same time, the media would also often criticize her for being too skinny.
No matter how she looked or how she weighed, it was never ¨right¨ by the media’s ever-changing impossible standards. During one of the peaks of her career, her album 1989, the discourse focused too much on her body and shape instead of her talent.
While on the 1989 world tour, Swift reportedly felt like she was gonna pass out after every show. She was going on a massive tour and living an all-around busy life, and she was barely eating because she was so afraid of what the media would say. You may not like Swift’s songs or disagree with her as a person, but there is no excuse for the hateful words about her weight spewed at her by the media.
It’s not just words on a page or webpage, it’s not just words spoken or unsaid thoughts in one’s head; these disgusting, demoralizing words are bringing down women. We will never have an equal and fair society for all genders until the media and even the general public decide to focus on women’s character and skills, rather than tearing them down for things they can’t control.
