“For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up,” says Jennifer, 47, in the hard-hitting piece she pens for The Huffington Post.
“I’m fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of ‘journalism,’ the ‘First Amendment’ and ‘celebrity news’.”
Jennifer, who doesn’t use social media, says she decided to finally speak out to also help other women who have to deal with constant scrutiny and comparisons that in turn make them feel inadequate and undervalued.
“The perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they’re not married with children….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.”
The Hollywood star, who is married to actor/writer Justin Theroux, says the microscope she’s been under – especially in the last month – shows how wider society perceives women.
“Yes, I may become a mother some day, and since I’m laying it all out there, if I ever do, I will be the first to let you know.
“But I’m not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way.
“The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.
“The message that girls are not pretty unless they’re incredibly thin, that they’re not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actress on the cover of a magazine is something we’re all willingly buying into.
“This conditioning is something girls then carry into womanhood.”
