10+ Stars That Had to Fight Impossible Female Beauty Standards

Beauty is different all over the world. But in Hollywood, it seems like there is an expectation for celebrities to look flawless all the time. That’s why we’ve brought you a list of celebrities that have talked back to the media and its crazy beauty standards.

1. Jennifer Garner

Years ago, after Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed their third baby together, people started speculating that she was pregnant again. The 13 going on 30 star even went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and said, “I am not pregnant. I have had 3 kids, and there is a bump.”

According to the actress, the speculation continues. That is why Garner expressed her feelings, sayings, “It’s just a body, it carried you this far, it carried babies for you. What else do you want? Just be thankful, my goodness.”

2. Camila Cabello

Singer Camila Cabello took it upon herself to talk about how beauty standards affect her mental health when she goes to the beach and wears bikinis. Cabello mentioned that knowing that maybe paparazzi were going to be at the beach would even affect how she acted. “I didn’t eat anything too heavy before going in the ocean because I knew it was gonna be basically a whole photo shoot.”

The singer even left us with an important lesson: “I wanted to talk about this because we see pictures of women and praise them for looking good, for looking fit or ’healthy.’ But what is health if you are so fixated on what your body looks like that your mental health suffers, and you can’t enjoy your life?”

3. Ashley Graham

Famous model Ashley Graham made an Instagram post after internet trolls criticized her for exercising. The post said, “Every time after I post a workout video I get comments like, ’You’ll never be skinny, so stop trying.’” Graham added, “For the record, I work out to stay healthy, feel good, show big girls we can move like the rest of them[...].”

Different trolls have tried to make the model feel bad about her body, but she keeps clapping back by educating them.

4. Lizzo

Being part of the music industry as a plus-size woman hasn’t been easy for Lizzo. She has received many comments about her body, but the singer doesn’t let this kind of thing affect her. She has shared some thoughts about the body criticism she has received on social media.

On Instagram Live, Lizzo said, “If you don’t like my music, cool. But a lot of people don’t like me because of the way I look.” At the end, the singer added, “I’m only going to focus on positive comments from here on out. I don’t have time for your negativity.”

5. Melanie Lynskey

Melanie Lynskey has talked about her experience on the set of Coyote Ugly and how she and the other girls were criticized by the crew, despite her already being a size 4. The actress has been criticized for her body on different occasions, but has learned how to deal with the opinions of others.

When talking about eating and confidence, the Coyote Ugly actress shared, “I was very unwell for a long time. [...] I was so unhappy and my hair was falling out.” but Lynskey continued, “I did have to truly become comfortable with myself because you can’t fake it.”

6. Taylor Swift

The talented singer and songwriter has opened up about her past struggles with body image. Swift has been called “too skinny,” “pregnant,” etc., and these comments have affected her relationship with food.

In her documentary, the actress said, “I thought that I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show or in the middle of it.” Swift added, “Women are held to such a ridiculous standard of beauty. We’re seeing so much on social media that makes us feel like we are less than.”

7. Jessica Simpson

In 2009, the singer and actress suffered public scrutiny because of her appearance. The media constantly criticized her to the point that she didn’t want to leave her home. Tabloids were saying she was overweight, which was not the case.

Nevertheless, Simpson was able to recover from that situation and learned to put herself first. The actress said, “I believe in my heart that a healthy body and a sound mind-body connection are what’s truly important and help me accept imperfections as beauty.”

8. Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston, just like Jennifer Garner, has been the subject of baby bump gossip perpetuated by the media. Aniston has said that the tabloids are to blame: “Why do they need to take people who are out there to entertain you, and rip them apart?”

The Friends star has learned not to pay attention to damaging assumptions about her body, explaining, “You have to tune out the noise [...] because I just know that I’m happy and healthy and doing everything I can to be good in the world.”

9. Kourtney Kardashian

Like many women on this list, Kourtney Kardashian has had several pregnancy rumors in her social media comment section. The reality TV star has said that she prefers not to look at the comments on her posts, but added, “I knew that I didn’t look pregnant in my opinion.” The star continued, “I’ve been pregnant 3 times. I know what my body looks like when I’m pregnant.”

10. Sarah Jessica Parker

When the announcement for the Sex and the City sequel came out, Parker was flooded with comments about her age. In response to the ill-spirited comments, the actress said, “There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never happen about a man.”

Sarah Jessica Parker had a genuine question for her haters: “Gray hair, gray hair, gray hair. ’Does she have gray hair?’ I’m sitting with Andy Cohen, and he has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Why is it okay for him?”

11. Kelly Clarkson

The singer and TV host has received comments about her body all her life. Even when she was a part of American Idol, people would say mean things to her. Despite the negativity she receives, Clarkson also has great things happening for her, which is where she gets a confidence boost.

When talking about being hired to be a judge at The Voice, she said, “I got on the number one television show at my heaviest point because it was right after I had kids, and it was like they didn’t care.”

12. Andie Macdowell

Actress Andie Macdowell has been vocal about ageism and sexism in the film industry. In an interview, the actress talked about a time when she had to shoot a semi-naked scene. Macdowell recalls that one of the crew members said to her, “Watch your tummy,” when they were about to film.

The 4 Weddings and a Funeral star continued the interview by stating that she was “tired of trying to be perfect.” And she added that most women have a tummy. “I’m not a size 2, I’ve never been a size 2 unless I was sick” gushed the actress.

13. Kate Winslet

The Oscar winner, Kate Winslet, was also a victim of body criticism right after Titanic was released. The actress recalled, “It was almost laughable how shocking, how critical, how straight-up cruel tabloid journalists were to me.”

Even in the casting process, her weight would come up: “When I was younger, my agent would get calls saying, ’How’s her weight?’” However, the actress is happy that there is hope for the industry because she can see the change in the new generations.

What is one beauty standard that has affected you personally? What are your thoughts on inclusivity? Let us know in the comments, we love reading your opinions.