Quick Hit(s): Beauty and Celebrity
It’s no secret to any of us that the entertainment industry manufactures an absolutely unattainable beauty standard for women, fetishizing youth and glorifying skinny. Maybe it comes as no surprise that it’s frustrating and painful for the women who live in that world, just as it is for those of us who only see it under glass.
Amy Poehler, Sarah Silverman, Christina Applegate, Jane Krackowski, Mary-Louise Parker and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss discuss being “old” in Hollywood:
And Meryl Streep talks about sexing herself up to play a part that probably shouldn’t have needed it:
(starts at about 2:45)
Edit: I guess this video got taken down. Short story: Meryl Streep had to prove her sex appeal for her role in Out of Africa (which, by the way, was a middle-aged author).
I think this part of dismantling a culture that assigns us value (extensively, if not in total) based on physical appearance, faulty assumptions, and arbitrary numbers; these words from those we have named beautiful. Meryl Streep’s sarcasm, Christina Applegate’s anger, a chorus of women reminding 48-year-old Julia Louis-Dreyfuss that she’s hot. This is part of it.
