'For the Record': Jennifer Aniston's powerful essay

Jennifer Aniston is fed up. The actor has suffered extreme scrutiny for decades at the hands of tabloid writers and paparazzi. As she forgoes social media, Aniston decided to pen an open letter for the Huffington Post in which she slams the objectification we as a society subject women to. In the essay, she comments on the extreme levels criticism women receive about their bodies, their marital status and whether or not they have children.

 

'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.”Every day my husband and I are harassed by dozens of aggressive photographers staked outside our home who will go to shocking lengths to obtain any kind of photo, even if it means endangering us or the unlucky pedestrians who happen to be nearby.' Aniston says.

 

While she has been the object of unfair scrutiny for eons, Aniston reached breaking point only recently. The last month has solidified for her the extent to which we judge a woman's worth on her marital or parental status (or lack thereof).  'The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth (sic) 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,' she says.

 

Aniston delves into the long-term negative effects these projections can have on young women, saying that we are teaching young women that they 'are not pretty unless they’re incredibly thin, that they’re not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actor on the cover of a magazine is something we’re all willingly buying into'.

 

Bravo, Jen!