Ashley Judd made waves a few days ago, complaining that the gossip blogs had noticed her face looked "puffy," and assumed she had had work done. Ignore, for a moment, that she probably did in fact have work done on her face. This was picked up by the feminist blogs and spun into critical analysis of The Patriarchy®©™*. By "critical analysis" I mean criticism, not actual thoughtful commentary.
While I'm actually pretty sympathetic to actors and actresses (it effects both) complaining about the superficiality of Hollywood, with it's laser-like focus on the young and the beautiful at the expense of actual talent and hard work, Ashley Judd is one of the last people in the industry that has any right to complain that she is being judged by those standards.
Let's face it, Ashley Judd built a successful career based on her exquisite face.
Without that face she's just another mildly talented, 3rd tier actress doing bit parts in second rate movies. Think Kirstie Alley without the reality TV show, the weight-loss program or the soft-core porn flicks. Or Megan Fox.
Don't get me wrong, Ashley's not a horrible actress, she's had a few good roles over her (relatively sparse) 36 performance career. She's just not as good as she thinks she is.
Ashley Judd is being judged by the exact same standards she has been judged throughout her entire professional acting career. She was totally ok with it when she was a hot 20-something actress causing erections in every 14 year old boy that watched her movies. For the first time, though, she's being judged by those same standards and has been found lacking. And now she's pissed at The Patriarchy®©™*.
What's really ironic is that she's really not being judged by The Patriarchy®©™* at all. The Patriarchy®©™* couldn't care less about her. The Patriarchy®©™* probably doesn't even remember who she is. As far as The Patriarchy®©™* is concerned, her career ended in the early 2000's, around the same time she stopped making studios money, and consequently, stopped landing major roles. This story was first "reported" on the gossip blogs, and her response was picked up by the feminist blogs. I have bad news for all of The Patriarchy®©™* hating women out there. There are two groups of people that read those types of blogs, women and gay men. Neither of those groups are part of The Patriarchy®©™*. She's being superficially judged (and found lacking) by the same people that habitually complain about the superficial judgements of The Patriarchy®©™*. Pot, Kettle, Black, some assembly required.
Like I said above, there are some actresses that could make this complaint and I would nod in agreement. Meryl Streep, Glenn Close or Judi Dench come to mind. These are actresses that while they may not be gorgeous (except Meryl Streep, the older she get's the better she looks), are amazing actresses, with serious roles to their credits. They deserve to be judged by the body of their work, by the obvious talent they possess and hard work they have clearly put into their careers.
Ashley Judd, on the other hand, has built a career not on the body of her work, but on her body itself. And that is how she's being judged.
*Every time you see The Patriarchy®©™ you can insert "group of executives responsible for ensuring that the movies their studios fund actually make money" if you want accuracy.
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