Jennifer Aniston shames tabloid journalism

Jennifer Aniston writes a very real and powerful piece on The Huffington Post after a series of unwelcome and untruthful gossip articles about her personal life.  

She outright shames tabloid journalism calling it ‘bullshit’ and ‘noise’, lambasting journalists who spend time writing about it instead of more important world events.

She conveys several powerful messages in this post: the first one being that we decide what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. Media showers us with images of extremely thin women and supermodels as a standard to which beauty should be measured.

Many young girls are worried about their bodies; consumed by thoughts of being fat and ugly rather than spending their days being carefree and childlike. Aniston comments that “this conditioning is something girls will carry into womanhood”.  

This is a sad fact that needs to change and happily, thanks to social media, there are women creating a buzz around body shaming and hashtags like #effyourbeautystandards on Instagram. The page portrays women of all sizes with the goal of ending body shaming. 

Videos like Jazzmyne Jay’s I wore a bikini to the beach for the first time, has led to positive and encouraging responses: “I hope more people can learn to accept and love themselves for who they are. You are wonderful and don’t let anyone get you down.”  

The second message relates to women who either choose not to or have yet to get married or bear children. Even though the timeline has been extended by younger generations, it still comes with its share of judgments.

As progressive as societies have become, there is still the notion that a woman is incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they are not married and/or have had children.

Once again, the power of social media unites, educates and encourages others in similar situations who may be confused or questioning their choices or lack thereof. The Gateway Women: Childless & Childfree Women Role Models Pinterest group is a gallery of women who live and recognize life beyond social stigmas.

Aniston mentions, “We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child.”

This is a wonderfully powerful message that will hopefully have an effect on all women out there who judge themselves based on these falsehoods.

Pop culture throws an endless stream of rom-coms, sad love songs, and cheesy romance novels that all glamourize finding ‘the one’ that ‘completes’ you. Many women feel unsatisfied and saddened if they have yet to find this ‘knight in shining armour’, often becoming bitter and feeling like a failure. In a predominantly patriarchal society, independent women are simultaneously revered, feared and misunderstood.

Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston have a lot of influence on women of all ages and is obviously choosing to wield that power responsibly and effectively. Our journeys are our own and we are the only ones that can affect our happiness.