Sarah Jessica ParkerShe spoke out about misogyny, hair color, and other topics. Her friend Andy Cohenis commenting on the comments of her. Here’s what they both have to say about aging gracefully in Hollywood.
Gray Hair Hatred
Parker and Cohen were spotted recently enjoying a meal at the Big Apple. The photographs served as a helpful microcosm of Hollywood’s double standards. Parker, who was married in natural gray hair, was criticized because she looked old. Cohen received no such criticism. Considering Parkers only three years older than Cohen, it’s obvious that there’s a gendered nature to these attacks.
Parker spoke to VogueAbout the photo. She eloquently described the double beauty standard around gray hair: “There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never. Happen. About. A. Man.” She says Cohen “has a full head of gray hair, and he’s exquisite. Is it okay for him to do this? I don’t know what to tell you people!”
Parker then turns her attention to social media: “It almost feels as if people don’t want us to be perfectly okay with where we are as if they almost enjoy us being pained by who we are today…I know what I look like. I don’t have any choice. What are you going to do about it. Stop Aging Disappear?” Parker understands more than most that you just cannot win this game.
Cohen Expresses Support
Cohen himself sat down with Drew Barrymore to discuss, among other things, Parker’s misogynistic criticism. The Real Housewives honcho explained, “All the articles were ‘Sarah Jessica Parker, she’s going gray’ and ‘She looks old,’ and it was insanity.” He concurred with his longtime friend that this was not okay: “here she is sitting next to me, who’s gray, and people just missed the mark totally. It was so misogynistic.”
Beauty Standards Abound
All that Parker and Cohen say will be confirmed by a glance at tabloids. These rags make money by attacking the bodies of celebrities, and there’s just no acceptable body type in their demented eyes. Everyone’s either too old, too big, or too small. Tabloids will attack anyone who has plastic surgery, regardless of the reason. It doesn’t matter whether someone ages naturally, as Parker did. They’ll still be bogged with vicious attacks and rumormongering.
If a man like Cohen goes out in gray hair, then he’ll probably be lauded as a silver fox. There’s no silver fox status for women in Hollywood. Perhaps projects like It’s as Simple As ThatThis can be changed.
