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Too much work? Not good enough. No cosmetic work done? Not good enough. Instead, women must straddle an almost impossible line, says Jessica Barrett<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1934496326.jpg” title_text=”29th Annual Critics Choice Awards – Arrivals” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Jennifer Aniston” 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″]<\/p>\n
A minute-long advert to air during this weekend\u2019s Super Bowl has brought a fresh round of speculation about Jennifer Aniston\u2019s appearance – specifically her face. The 54-year-old Friends actress appears alongside former co-star David Schwimmer in the Uber Eats commercial but it is – predictably – her ageing process, not his, which has caused a stir amongst online commentators. One wrote, \u2018Pity about her face, she lost all her cuteness. why cant they\u00a0 just leave it\u00a0 alone and age naturally..? [sic]\u2019 Another added, \u2018Honestly people. You look a lot better without getting anything done. Small things \u2026okay fine. Even a nose job here or there, fine. But the fillers, botox, eye lifts, lip injections, chin implants etc etc . You just end up looking like a freak.\u2019 One user even wrote, \u2018Oh my god, what on earth has she done to her face????? She looks bloomin’ awful. Fancy paying to look that bad!\u00a0 Surely it is better to have a naturally aging face than that [sic].\u2019<\/p>\n
Should we be surprised that a woman, who has been living in the public eye for thirty years, is having her appearance so casually dissected online? Hardly. It would be almost impossible to name a female celebrity who had managed to get away without seeing comments about the way they look, whether it be about their weight, style or ageing process, at some point or other. It might be argued that it simply \u2018comes with the territory\u2019 but we also know by now that this judgement doesn\u2019t start and end with famous women, we also internalise the judgement we see and it ultimately impacts how we feel about our own looks – the unrealistic standards we set celebrities, and they set themselves, end up applying to us too.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Aniston has long fielded criticisms about her appearance. She was forced to speak out in 2016 after a US tabloid published paparazzi photos of her and suggested she might be pregnant. Writing in an op-ed for Huffington Post, she wrote, \u2018For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. I\u2019m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of \u201cjournalism,\u201d the \u201cFirst Amendment\u201d and \u201ccelebrity news.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
She added, \u2018The 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. Sometimes cultural standards just need a different perspective so we can see them for what they really are \u2014 a collective acceptance… a subconscious agreement. We are in charge of our agreement\u2026We use celebrity \u201cnews\u201d to perpetuate this dehumanizing view of females, focused solely on one\u2019s 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 \u201cimperfection\u201d?\u2019<\/p>\n
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And yet, despite these powerful words, eight years on Jennifer is still routinely subjected to such speculation, more recently about whether she has or hasn\u2019t had surgical enhancements to her face. A TikTok video by a user called Dr Jonny posted this week delved into why Jennifer Aniston \u2018looks so different recently\u2019. In the video the aesthetician lists the surgical procedures Jennifer \u2018may\u2019 have had done including eyelid surgery, filler and a face lift, and uses comparison photos from both 2015 and this year to fully assess her ageing process. But whether Jennifer has had these procedures or not, is it really any of our business? Analysing her face in great detail only serves to highlight the bigger issue: there is no right way for women in the public eye to age.<\/p>\n
Take Sarah Jessica Parker, who has been open about her decision not to partake in anti-ageing procedures. \u2018I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop ageing? Disappear?\u2019 the And Just Like That star said when asked if she was concerned about comments about her appearance when the rebooted Sex and the City landed in 2022. Speaking about ageing \u2018naturally\u2019, Parker said, \u2018You know, I missed out on the facelift. Like an old-fashioned good one that you have when you\u2019re like 44.\u2019 And on Botox and filler she said, \u2018I do understand why people make the choice, because there is so much emphasis put on, especially women, and primarily women, about looks.\u2019 She couldn\u2019t have put it more perfectly and, indeed, viewers of the hugely successful reboot did comment negatively on her natural looks, whilst in the same breath criticising her co-star Kristin Davis for having \u2018too much work done\u2019. Davis spoke about the impact on her mental health of the \u2018relentless ridicule\u2019 she faced for having Botox and filler, telling The Telegraph last year, \u2018It\u2019s a challenge to remember that you don\u2019t have to look like that. The internet wants you to – but they also don\u2019t want you to. They\u2019re very conflicted\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n
This is something currently being faced by Nicole Kidman, 56, another star who has dared to grow older in the public eye – and has faced huge amounts of criticism for doing so. Her appearance in new series Expats has drawn negative comments from viewers keen to criticise what they perceive as work she has had done to her face. One user wrote on X, formerly Twitter, \u2018I was watching Expats last night and couldn’t help thinking, what has happened to Nicole Kidman’s face? How can you be an actress if you’ve had so much botox your face doesn’t move properly?! I wish women (and society) didn’t feel the need to do this to themselves.\u2019 Another wrote, \u2018A prerequisite for good acting is the ability to portray expression. I’m currently watching “Expats” starring Nicole Kidman, and she exhibits none. Her Botox’d face remains immobile\u2026\u2019 And yet, it is exactly these kinds of people, who feel so confident in criticising a woman\u2019s appearance on the internet, which has made it impossible for women in the public eye to age at all.<\/p>\n
Too much work? Not good enough. No cosmetic work done? Not good enough. The procedures, then, that women must have, must straddle an almost impossible line: they need to be subtle enough not to be noticeable, but strong enough that the women don\u2019t look their actual ages. It\u2019s exhausting to witness, so heaven knows it must be exhausting to live. For women to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin is such a rare phenomenon and it\u2019s clear why: we are under constant scrutiny and pressure to look a certain way. Here\u2019s an idea: how about we sit back and let women look however the hell they want? Beauty standards will only exist as long as we let them.<\/p>\n
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Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>\n
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