The Spectacle of Every Female Celebrity's Body And Why It's Inherently Anti-Feminist
Hello beautiful! I hope you are having an amazing day! Today, I want to talk about the differences in how women and men in the entertainment industry are treated, especially regarding appearance. Time and time again, we have proven that the primary thing society sees in a woman is her appearance, but the same isn't always true about a man. They are often seen for their accomplishments or their talents, while women are judged using a superficial and almost entirely unrealistic standard. In the rest of this post, I'm going to be breaking down this topic further, explaining what this means for women as a community, and what we can do to help.
One of the first and most recent examples of this phenomenon that I thought of while planning this post was Ariana Grande. She literally had to step back from her professional career because of the way she was being treated by the public.
Although we know that women in the entertainment industry are more prone to developing eating disorders that can be disastrous for one's health, we have to understand that bullying someone for alleged health issues (that should remain private if the celebrity wishes) isn't going to help the situation. In fact, it will usually make the situation worse.
For years, Ariana Grande and many other women's bodies have been inspected and analyzed by the public, but this behavior is far less common when it comes to male celebrities. Changes to a man's body fly under the radar more often because we're not constantly watching them to see when their appearance changes. But, the internet will find a way to ostracize a woman celebrity when they find the smallest thing about her appearance that they don't like.
Milly Alcock, who starred in the Supergirl movie, also faced criticism for the way she looks. She describes the internet's attitude towards herself and others in the same industry perfectly, as a "weird ownership of women's bodies" (Sharf, 2026).
I think that this "ownership," also comes with a false sense of control from the public. And, whenever a woman doesn't look how the public wants her to look, she's "let herself go" or she's "washed up," and her career goes downhill because people won't support her unless she looks seamless and stunning all of the time.
This brings me to a whole other conversation about women, the media, and feminism. Women in the public eye often have to live up to more expectations than men, solely because they're women. The way they look becomes a major part of their career in a way that men don't have to worry about.
A clear example of this bias is the difference in public attitude towards women and men aging. When a man gets older, the shift in his appearance often doesn't affect his career. But for a woman, aging is one of the worst things that can happen in a career in the entertainment industry.
I could write a whole other post about how ideas like this can be traced to pedophilia, but let me stay on track...
Constant criticism towards female celebrities doesn't only harm them; it harms women and girls everywhere by reinforcing an extremely dated, biased, and unjust way of thinking.
It tells women that their worth is determined by the way they look, not by their talents, their personality, their beliefs, or their character. It objectifies women. It minimizes everything that makes a person special and replaces it with something that can change as quickly as the weather.
Despite how prejudiced this mindset is, it's still a massive part of the way women are viewed today, and girls can pick up what is expected of them at a very young age. Once those values are instilled, it can be difficult to live your life unaffected by them.
So, what can we do to help? Unfortunately, these ideas of judging a woman based on her outward appearance have been around for a long time. I'm almost certain we won't be able to get rid of them while we're here.
BUT, we can try to make small changes, starting with the people that we're close to. Give a compliment to a friend that has nothing to do with their appearance. Instead of "You look stunning!" try saying "I really admire your courage," or "Your sense of humor is so creative!"
When talking about celebrities, try to speak about their actual talents (acting, singing, dancing, etc.) instead of the way they look, even if you're only trying to compliment them.
That's all for today!
Remember, if you ever need a hand, girl, let me help!
References:
Sharf, Zack (2026, March 31). ‘Supergirl’ Star Milly Alcock Says ‘I Really Can’t Stop’ Backlash and Understands Why Scorsese and Ridley Scott Criticized Superhero Movies: ‘Not Every Film Is for Everyone.’ Variety. https://variety.com/2026/film/news/supergirl-milly-alcock-backlash-scorsese-superhero-movies-1236703613/
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