Jennifer Aniston announces she's not pregnant, slams media
LOS ANGELES -- Jennifer Aniston says she's not pregnant and she's fed up with predatory tabloid culture that defines women by their looks and maternal status.
In an essay published Tuesday in the Huffington Post, Aniston says constant paparazzi coverage contributes to a "dehumanizing view of females, focused solely on one's physical appearance."
She says the further speculation over whether she looks as though she's pregnant or may have eaten too much "reflects the warped way we calculate a woman's worth."
"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,'" she writes.
She says the amount of media resources spent on trying to find out if she's pregnant perpetuates the idea that women are incomplete until they marry and become mothers. She continues:
Here's where I come out on this topic: we are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. We get to decide for ourselves what is beautiful when it comes to our bodies. That decision is ours and ours alone. Let's make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples. Let's make that decision consciously, outside of the tabloid noise. We don't need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own "happily ever after" for ourselves.
Aniston says she doesn't expect tabloid practices to change, but she hopes consumers will become more aware of the "toxic" messages such publications put forth.