Celebrity objectification
Is Objectifying Women in Movies Okay? A-list Actresses Sound Off
- Sofia, Reese, Viola and more share their true feelings on the topic – and it's not all negative.
- By Diana Pearl Updated February 08, 2016 11:00 AM [Source 1]
- SOFIA VERGARA
- MEN DON'T GET OFFENDED BY IT, SO WHY SHOULD WOMEN?
- JASON MERRITT/WIREIMAGE
In an interview with Net-a-Porter.com's The Edit, Vergara said she thinks women shouldn't take objectification too seriously. "I've never understood why women get so offended it. I just don't believe in all that drama, which is why I've made a joke out of it. I am secure enough not to take it all that seriously, and I like to laugh at myself. My husband [Joe Manganiello] was a male stripper in Magic Mike XXL – do you think he was offended?"
- REESE WITHERSPOON
- IT LEADS TO LESSER ROLES
- DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Witherspoon said that not giving female characters enough dimension isn't good for anyone. "About four years ago I got sent an awful terrible script. And this male star was starring in it, and there was a girlfriend part. And I thought, 'You've got to be kidding me. No, I'm not interested.' I thought, 'Oh, that's where we're at? You're fighting to be the girlfriend in a dumb comedy? For what?'
- CAMERON DIAZ
- SOMETIMES, WOMEN WANT IT
- STEVE GRANITZ/WIREIMAGE
Diaz told the UK's Sunday Times in 2012 that she thinks every woman, on some level, seeks objectification: "There's a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think it's healthy."
- VIOLA DAVIS
- NOT EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS NEGATIVE
- RICH POLK/GETTY
During a Hollywood Reporter round-table, Davis talked about how her role in How to Get Away with Murder changed the way women of her age and race are portrayed on screen: "There was absolutely no precedent for it. I had never seen a 49-year-old, dark-skinned woman who is not a size 2 be a sexualized role in TV or film," she said. "I'm a sexual woman, but nothing in my career has ever identified me as a sexualized woman. I was the prototype of the 'mommified' role. Then all of a sudden, this part came, and fear would be an understatement."
- MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL
- IT CAN BE USED FOR GOOD
- JON KOPALOFF/FILMMAGIC)
During the same roundtable, Gyllenhaal said that nudity in film can be a way to showcase different body types on screen: "I was never the actress asked to be the hot girl who took her clothes off on her first day of work. I wasn't totally objectified in that way. I wanted to show what a woman my age actually really looks like. I am much more turned on when I see people's bodies that look like bodies I recognize."
- EVA MENDES
- IT'S UP TO ME NOT TO LET IT HAPPEN
- ANGELA WEISS/GETTY
In a 2010 interview with W magazine, Mendes shared that she's never felt objectified, because her roles have always been her choice: "I've never had a problem with nudity, but I don’t put it out there without a reason. I'm not an exhibitionist. But, honestly, for my art I'll do anything almost. I'll go there. I know I walk a fine line between being a respected actor and being what they call a sex symbol. But I've never felt objectified. Nothing you see me do is an accident."
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