With the presence of social media and beauty standards, there’s an added pressure on celebrities to maintain the perfect body and face the public expects.
People often put celebrities under a microscope and analyze every part of their appearance.
Millie Bobby Brown was recently subjected to this.
People have accused her of plastic surgery while she “ages poorly”.
It got to the point where she posted a video on her instagram calling out articles and journalists that harshly criticized her for her appearance.
“I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason people can’t seem to grow up with me,” Brown said in the video. “Instead they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on ‘Stranger Things‘ season 1. And because I don’t, I’m now a target.”
It’s become a hobby for social media users to criticize celebrities and dissect every part of them. Users commenting on other people’s posts to tear them down is something you see everywhere.
However, it’s not just social media users. Professionals have taken it upon themselves to write about other people’s appearance.
In the video, Brown calls out the articles written about her and “the writers who are so desperate to tear young women down”.
Articles include “Why are Gen Zers like Millie Bobby Brown Aging so Badly”, “What has Millie Bobby Brown Done to her Face“, “Millie Bobby Brown Mistaken for Someone’s Mom as She Guides Younger Sister Ava Through LA crowd”.
“Amplifying an insult rather than questioning why a grown man is mocking a grown woman’s appearance,” Brown said on instagram. “This isn’t journalism. This is bullying.”
There is a big line between critiquing and outright insulting. Never, should journalists use their platforms to bring someone else down based on their appearance, falsely accuse them of having plastic surgery or talk about their aging.
“We have become a society where it’s so much easier to criticize than it is to pay a compliment,” Brown said. “I refuse to apologize for growing up. I refuse to make myself smaller to fit the unrealistic expectations of people who can’t handle seeing a girl become a woman. I will not be shamed for how I look, how I dress, or how I present myself.”
Brown finished by explaining that, as a society, something needs to change.
“Let’s do better,” Brown said. “Not just for me, but for every young girl that deserves to grow up without the fear of being torn apart for simply existing.”
This video needed to be posted because it acted as a wake up call for a lot of people. Brown didn’t only post this for herself, she posted it for everyone who may be bullied or bullying someone based on their appearance.
Countless celebrities go through this everyday as the media compares them to something unattainable.
This includes Kylie Jenner who has constantly faced scrutiny over her appearance. Over the years, she has admitted to getting procedures done, however, recently, she has gotten most of her filler dissolved.
Jenner has been in the public spotlight since she was 10 years old while she was on her family’s reality TV show “Keeping up with the Kardashians”.
“The world put a lot of pressure on a teenager, me, to make the right decisions,” Jenner said in an interview with “British Vogue”, referring to her procedures. “Looking back, I’m like, ‘God, I was 17, 18.’”
Even after dissolving her filler she is still criticized for her “aged” look.
Another celebrity often criticized is Jennifer Aniston who was advised by her agent to lose weight before landing her role in “Friends”.
In an op-ed for “HuffPost” Aniston wrote, “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 objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.”
Similarly, Ashley Graham, a plus sized model who has always been an advocate for body positivity, constantly faces scrutiny from the public telling her she should lose weight.
“I hate that I constantly have to discuss my body, because I don’t know any man that has to do that,” Graham said in an interview with “WSJ”. “But what motivates me to continue to talk about my body is that I didn’t have someone talking about their body when I was young.”
The media is constantly trying to tear women down, telling them they need to look younger than they are, taller but not too tall, skinnier but not too skinny.
Where does it end?
Women need to look perfect but not unnatural and the minute they do, they’re chastised for doing that to themselves like it wasn’t the media that planted that idea.
Everyone has their own insecurities but we shouldn’t be entertaining them let alone capitalizing on them.
Stop trying to dissect and comment on every little feature you don’t like from someone else’s body. It’s not yours to change and it definitely should not be the headline of every front page.
