critic

Renée Zellweger Slams Sexist Double Standards in Op-Ed

"Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character?"

Renée Zellweger says she's had enough with the way the media has covered her appearance over the years.

In a lengthy Huffington Post op-ed, the Oscar-winning actress slammed the coverage of her appearance in 2014, when a tabloid newspaper suggested she had surgery to change the way her eyes looked, and the double standard that female celebrities face in the public eye.

"I am lucky. Choosing a creative life and having the opportunity to do satisfying work that is sometimes meaningful is a blessed existence and worth the price paid in the subsequent challenges of public life. Sometimes it means resigning to humiliation, and other times, understanding when silence perpetuates a bigger problem," she began by writing.

"I am not writing today because I have been publicly bullied or because the value of my work has been questioned by a critic whose ideal physical representation of a fictional character originated 16 years ago, over which he feels ownership, I no longer meet…I'm writing because to be fair to myself, I must make some claim on the truths of my life, and because witnessing the transmutation of tabloid fodder from speculation to truth is deeply troubling."

Zellweger further explained that, "Not that it's anyone's business, but I did not make a decision to alter my face and have surgery on my eyes."

The star admitted that while, "It's no secret a woman's worth has been historically measured by her appearance," our society has "taken for granted that women are standard bearers in all realms of high profile position and influence."

Lastly, Zellweger concluded her powerful essay with the following questions to readers around the world:

"Maybe we could talk more about why we seem to collectively share an appetite for witnessing people diminished and humiliated with attacks on appearance and character? Maybe we could talk more about our many true societal challenges and how we can do better?"

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