Jennifer Aniston explains why she wrote an Op-Ed against sexist tabloid journalism.
During an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Aniston talked about what inspired her to write that essay when DeGeneres complimented the actress about her it, stating that it is "eloquently written" and "beautiful."
Aniston confessed that she originally wrote the piece for herself but it turned into something more. As a child she had always written letters and never sent them out, which was her intention for this one until she decided she had to publicize it. Following her mother's death, a photograph of the star was released in a tabloid showing a circle around a bump on her stomach in a "disgustingly, objectifying way." The actress revealed that these kinds of stories are something that she's been living with for 10 to 15 years now and it's wrong to be "boxed in [this way]."
The actress went on to say, "I was just fed up with it and I think these tabloids, all of us, need to take responsibility on what we ingest into our brains, just because we are women, we have a uterus, we have a vagina, we have ovaries, we need to like, 'Get to work, lady.'"
Aniston said she believes that procreation shouldn't be the highlight of any woman's potential. She points out that there are many other successes women can achieve beyond childbirth and that while childbirth is important, women have gone on to do great things aside from it. In order to prove her point, Aniston mentions DeGeneres' recent Presidential Medal of Freedom.
She added that she hopes people will stop buying tabloid magazine's since it supports the gossip wheel and would like to see her essay help set into motion the end of sexist tabloid journalism for women everywhere.