Jennifer Aniston has done something sheโs never done before: addressed gossip. She wrote a scathing piece called โFor The Recordโ for The Huffington Post addressing swirling pregnant rumours and what it means for women and their value in society.
She started off the op-ed by saying: โFor the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up.โ
Though she mentions the safety issues that her husband and the general public have experienced from the paparazzi, she says this is not the only urgent issue at hand. She believes that the lengths these photographers go to to get pictures of her from certain angles reveals โthe warped way we calculate a womanโs worthโ.
She goes on to say that the pregnancy rumours reflect this even further:
โThe sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth timeโฆ but whoโs counting) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if theyโre not married with children.โ
Jennifer believes that women should be valuable, and โcompleteโ, with or without a partner, and with or without children. She has been victim to this devaluation the media portrays, with people spreading rumours just because sheโs had โa burger for lunchโ, or had her photo taken at a strange angle.
She says that if she does become a mother one day, sheโll be the first to tell the public about it. But in the meantime, we should be changing the way we consume tabloids and stop โbuying the bullshitโ. She urges the public to help decide what is beautiful when it comes to womenโs bodies.
โThat decision is ours and ours alone. Letโs make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples.โ
Read Jennifer Anistonโs full piece here.