Nia Vardalos: I Agree With Jennifer Aniston About Body Shaming | TODAY
USA TODAY , KSDK8:22 AM. CDT July 14, 2016
Jennifer Aniston (Getty)
Who has sold more tabloid magazines over the last fifteen yearsthanJennifer Aniston?
But after constantly being scrutinized post-lunch for a baby belly, with headlines declaring she"s "finally pregnant!" she"s had it.
The actress penned an essay for theHuffington Poston Tuesday, breaking her longtime stance of ignoring gossip chatter.
"Let me start by saying that addressing gossip is something I have never done. I dont 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," she wrote.
And just in case you were wondering, "for the record, I amnotpregnant," she says. "What I am isfedup.Im 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 starts by pointing out the public safety issues surrounding the constant presence of paparazzi following her and husbandJustin Theroux,44, but then widens the lens."I want to focus on the bigger picture of what this insane tabloid ritual represents to all of us," she says.Aniston, 47, realizes she is "some kind of symbol to people out there" and has connected the constant bump-watch forced upon herto a larger issue at hand.
"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," she says. "The message that girls are not pretty unless theyre incredibly thin, that theyre not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actress on the cover of a magazine is something were all willingly buying into."
This summer Aniston pregnancy rumors reached a new high, with tabloids volleying between showcasinga fictitious bumpon vacation toclaimingshe"s suddenly too thin (she waswearing boyfriend jeans).
In short, she can"t win.
"This past month in particular has illuminated for me how much we define a womans value based on her marital and maternal status," says Aniston, citing more pressingstories like mass shootings, Supreme Court decisions and the upcomingelection. "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 whos counting) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if theyre not married with children," she writes.
Here"s Aniston"s truth, in her own words.
"Heres 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. Lets make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples. Lets make that decision consciously, outside of the tabloid noise. We dont need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own happily ever after for ourselves."
For those wondering, she adds,"yes, I may become a mother some day, and since Im laying it all out there, if I ever do, I will be the first to let you know. But Im not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way, as our celebrity news culture would lead us all to believe. 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.
Read her full essayhere.
Copyright 2016 WFAA
Source: http://www.ksdk.com/entertainment/jennifer-aniston-is-fed-up-with-tabloids-rumors/273045843
