It still contributes to a narrative that a woman\u2019s worth and identity is attached to how her body looks.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]
Words by Charley Ross<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2208193910-scaled.jpg” alt=”Gwyneth Paltrow” title_text=”US-SCIENCE-MATHEMATICS-TRAILBLAZERS” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Recent reports that describe Gwyneth Paltrow\u2019s \u2018bikini body\u2019 may be well meaning, but there’s a dark side to the commentary.<\/p>\n This week, Paltrow was pictured holidaying in Capri on a luxury yacht with her partner Brad Falchuk and actor Edward Norton. Photographed in her swimsuit, headlines about the 52-year-old described her figure as \u2018IDGAF\u2019 (\u2018I don\u2019t give a f**k\u2019), noting that the wellness guru has recently undergone a ‘lifestyle shift’ away from the strict dietary rules that underscored her 20s, 30s and 40s.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] ‘I\u2019m getting back into eating sourdough bread, and some cheese \u2013 there, I said it,’ Paltrow said in a recent Good podcast episode. ‘A little pasta after being strict with it for so long.’ Her admission, genuinely, made headlines. She went on to describe a \u2018hardcore macrobiotic\u2019 diet she used to follow, which she says became an obsession.<\/p>\n ‘I went into hardcore macrobiotic for a certain time, that was an interesting chapter where I got obsessed with eating very, very healthily,’ Paltrow explained. ‘I really deepened my connection with food and the whole philosophy around macrobiotics which is essentially just how they eat in the mountains of Japan so very local and seasonal.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2208730063-scaled.jpg” title_text=”11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony – Arrivals” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Gwyneth Paltrow” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] ‘Lots of fish, vegetables, rice, no diary, no sugar etc. I think that period of time I might have got a little didactical about it.’<\/p>\n Maybe just a little! But seriously, it’s great that Paltrow has seemingly loosened the reigns on what she describes as a obsessive attitude towards healthy eating. What’s less great is the resulting commentary that describes her body as ‘IDGAF.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Why? Because regardless of intention, zoning in on her figure in this way actually suggests a continued regressive attitude when it comes to how we talk about women and their bodies and dietary choices. It suggests that she’s given up, that her figure is reflective of a failure to care – which is far from what Paltrow has described.<\/p>\n This labelling essentially says that moving away from restrictive eating means you don\u2019t care at all about your wellbeing and health. Where is the middle ground and acceptance of women\u2019s bodies in an form, at any age?<\/p>\n Because let’s be real, Paltrow definitely still gives a f*ck.\u00a0 She likely still has a staff of people telling her what she should and shouldn\u2019t eat and guiding her exercise and wellness regimen \u2013 unlike the majority of us. Also, the misogynistic culture that Paltrow and myself alike have grown up with has guaranteed that, on some level, we always give a f**k about our body image.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Beyond that, drawing attention to a woman \u2013 whether she\u2019s famous or not \u2013 due to how her body looks or doesn\u2019t look, or what she is or isn\u2019t eating, is a problem whether or not it\u2019s distinctly complimentary or supportive. It contributes to a narrative that a woman\u2019s worth and identity is attached to how her body looks, instead of all the other aspects of her life. It\u2019s also just quite patronising.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not saying that embracing your body as it ages \u2013 which is reportedly what Paltrow is doing \u2013 and how empowering that is isn\u2019t a good thing. What I\u2019m saying is labelling her body as in its \u2018IDGAF\u2019 era and drawing attention to it in this way is the opposite of empowering, it\u2019s channeling the same narrative that SkinnyTok and other body shaming cultural phenomena does. It reduces a woman down to the size of her body, and nothing else.<\/p>\n The constant narrative around Hollywood women\u2019s bodies continues to be insidious due to the constant overfocus on them \u2013 where is their validation from their acting, performing, businesses?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2185300627-scaled.jpg” alt=”Gwyneth Paltrow” title_text=”The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – Season 12″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Kate Winslet has spoken out repeatedly about the body shaming she was subjected to throughout her entire career from the duration of filming Titanic at 22 years old back in the 1990s to the present. \u2018It\u2019s absolutely appalling,\u2019 she recently said while rewatching footage of reporters questioning her weight and dress size over 25 years ago. \u2018What kind of a person must they be to do something like that to a young actress who\u2019s just trying to figure it out?\u2019<\/p>\n More recently, she spoke about being asked to sit up straighter while portraying war photographer Lee Miller in biopic Lee so her \u2018belly rolls\u2019 weren\u2019t shown on screen.<\/p>\n \u2018She wasn\u2019t lifting weights and doing pilates, she was eating cheese, bread and drinking wine and not making a big deal of it, so of course her body would be soft,\u2019 Winslet said of Miller. \u2018But I think we\u2019re so used to perhaps not necessarily seeing that and enjoying it \u2013 the instinct, weirdly, is to see it and criticise it or comment on it in some way.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s interesting how much people do like labels for women. And they very much liked them in Lee\u2019s day, and, annoyingly, they sort of still do \u2013 we slap these labels on women that we just don\u2019t have for men. It\u2019s absolutely bizarre to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Winslet added in an interview with CBS that as she approaches her 50th birthday, she has stopped listening to other people\u2019s opinions about her body as it has become too \u2018exhausting\u2019.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Similarly, Sydney Sweeney posted on Instagram about criticisms she\u2019d received after bulking up to play professional boxer Christy Martin in an upcoming biopic. She posted screenshots of critics calling her \u2018frumpy\u2019, \u2018butterface\u2019 and \u2018chunky\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s almost like as a society, we believe that we have a divine right to pass judgment on a woman’s body, positive or negative, particularly if she\u2019s in the public eye. Whether she gives a f**k about her dress size or not, maybe we should just let Paltrow enjoy her holiday in peace? <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We need to talk about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10765"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10776,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10765\/revisions\/10776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘a woman’s worth and identity is not attached soley to how her body looks.’<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]