Some controversy arose following a few photos of Jennifer Aniston in what some might consider to be an unflattering dress. Many photographers and members of the media speculated that Jen might "finally" be pregnant. This wasn't the first time Jen was labeled pregnant; in fact, it happens more than I even knew about. Jennifer reacted, standing up for herself and all women, in Hollywood and outside of it. Since Jennifer isn't on social media, she responded through an open letter. While I won't include the entire letter in this article, I definitely recommend reading the whole thing, since it's very well written and thought-provoking.
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 "First Amendment," and "celebrity news." The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing. The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general, measured against some warped standard of beauty...
This past month in particular has illuminated for me how much we define a woman’s value based on her marital and maternal status. The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth time...but who’s counting?) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children. In this last boring news cycle about my personal life there have been mass shootings, wildfires, major decisions by the Supreme Court, an upcoming election, and any number of more newsworthy issues that “journalists” could dedicate their resources towards.
Here’s where I come out on this topic: we are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child... We don’t need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own “happily ever after” for ourselves...
From years of experience, I’ve learned tabloid practices, however dangerous, will not change, at least not any time soon. What can change is our awareness and reaction to the toxic messages buried within these seemingly harmless stories served up as truth and shaping our ideas of who we are. We get to decide how much we buy into what’s being served up, and maybe some day the tabloids will be forced to see the world through a different, more humanized lens because consumers have just stopped buying the bullsh*t.
I've decided to do some research on some other times the media has claimed that Jennifer Aniston was with child.
In 2013...
In 2014...
In 2015...
In 2016...
This is just ridiculous...
I found this (and more) from just a few simple Google searches. I can't imagine how Jennifer must feel telling her friends and family that she isn't pregnant, that Us Weekly has it wrong, and that she (God forbid) had a burger for lunch that day.
Not only do these tabloids need to get their facts straight before they print them, they need to stop body shaming women (and men, for that matter) and scrutinizing them for being single or not a mother. It's this subconscious sexism that exists in our society that is the most dangerous for girls and women because this kind is so embedded, and can't be easily brushed off.
Jen, you're a strong woman and fantastic role model; and in a world full of Kardashians and T-Swifts, that's pretty refreshing.
