Sarah Jessica Parker is so over the double standard when it comes to men and women simply growing older. Society really doesn't seem to care when men grow up and go gray or show some extra lines around their eyes. When women's appearances change, and they don't, ya know, spend their entire lives and paychecks covering up the impacts of time, people completely lose their minds.
SJP was on the cover of a 2021t issue of Vogue, and in the issue she unleashes how she really feels about the criticism surrounding her changing appearance as a woman and an actress.
It's been a pretty hot topic since the promos for the Sex and the City sequel series have been released. Because while there is so much to talk about when it comes to the series, so many people seem focused on the fact that the women have gotten older.
Uh? Yeah.
Now, it goes without saying that the women look incredible. I mean, they always do. But people are really hung up on the fact that they now appear older. It's a strange and somewhat misogynist thing to focus on, and SJP just isn't having it.
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"There’s so much misogynist chatter in response to us that would never. Happen. About. A. Man," the beloved actress said. "'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? I don’t know what to tell you people."
She continued, "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, whether we choose to age naturally and not look perfect, or whether you do something if that makes you feel better," she said. "I know what I look like. I have no choice. What am I going to do about it? Stop aging? Disappear?"
SJP's comments should really be a wake-up call to those who are hyperfocused on the way women age. Yes, these women are in their 50s, and they're still fierce, fashionable, and have so much to say. While no one seems to have trouble seeing powerful men in their 50s, that's not always true for women. What is it that makes people so uncomfortable with women getting older and still taking center stage?
SJP's frustration is completely understandable, especially because in her industry, women's appearances are often highly scrutinized. But it's really a bit unsettling because the show is bound to be ground-breaking. While Sex and the City, in its earliest days, was exactly that, a show about women in their 50s is something people can't wait to see.
Of course, the men in the series have grown up, too. But there isn't too much chatter about that. It's almost as if we give men permission to do the most natural thing in the world — get older — while women are expected to be ageless — if they want to be seen and heard, that is.
The criticism probably speaks to the fact that the show is going to break down barriers for women, as the original did. Because any time a production offers something different, there is going to be a bit of background noise. That's what happens when you go against the grain — as Sarah Jessica and the other women have, simply by continuing to exist, and to work, and to make no apologies for getting older.
