Instagram/@courtneyastodden
This quote from Courtney Stodden can be termed no holds barred and be an incendiary one. This media personality who turned into a victim of her sexualization while still being in the tender ages of her teens, threw in the statement to further the Sweeney debate on American Eagle jeans ads. Stodden reached out to the press to emphasize that it’s not about Sweeney—and it is about calling out the problematic system that puts cash behind this campaign.
Advertisement
In the Instagram post, Stodden relieves memories of their becoming used by the industry when they were a child. “I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and curves since I was a kid,” they wrote. “I was sexualized by the system before I even understood what was happening.” The post featured a car selfie, where the person is calm yet firmly resolute. This is targeting a much broader issue—that of recycling the hypersexualization of women, especially those with the “All-American” presentation, and who profits from this.
By way of messed-up comparisons, Stodden declared that Sweeney’s campaign resembled, in some way, the untoward allegations against Brooke Shields in Calvin Klein ads of the ’80s, where she was made to be a sex symbol at 14 years of age.” Yet another billionaire-backed fantasy being sold to us as innocent nostalgia,” Stodden wrote. “But it’s not… It is rooted in racism.” What it is not about is to shame femininity or beauty,” Stodden said, “they’re just questioning why these images keep being pushed—and who benefits from it.”
Commenters in the forum quickly exploded with reactions both pro-and con to the discussion. Many of them supported Stodden’s position, including one user who wrote, “Well said. I’ve been trying to organize my thoughts around this and couldn’t articulate it, but you did.” One, however, had to completely miss the point and mocked with, “Is this satire as she sits with her massive tatas in everyone’s face????” (Such classic deflection, really.)
Things got pretty heated when another commenter started drawing comparisons between the Sweeney ad and older Beyoncé denim campaigns. Stodden shot back saying, “Genes 🧬 the idea of the ad is subconscious racism.” Another voice entered the fray and alleged that the backlash is selective: “Beyoncé had an ad like this, everyone has had an ad like this… women just hate women who are more attractive than themselves.” (Ah yes, the old “jealousy” argument—always a lazy rebuttal.)
Then there were the defenders of the ad, including one who declared, “I am an American woman, 53 years old, and I thought the Ad was AMAZING!!!” She then quickly (sarcastically) issued a “trigger warning” to “liberal sensitive” folks. (Because nothing says “mature discourse” like sarcastic all-caps.)
Now, sober Stodden, in Kourtney’s healing era, is not backing down: “Part of healing is naming the pattern,” he said. And this ad? “Feels like more of the same.” The post finishes with this powerful note: “Our genes are ours and ours alone… old billionaires are 2,000 and late.”
Whether one agrees or not, the voice of Stodden cuts through this conversation, reviving discussions about who really defines beauty, who profits from that definition, and why they keep politer versioning of the same tired cliché. And, in a world that often dismisses criticism of hypersexualization as “jealousy” or “overreacting,” the refusal of Stodden to stay silent is a mic drop.
Advertisement
Of course, the internet still would continue interfering. But one thing for sure: Courtney Stodden is not here for another retell of an old script. Honestly, it was time someone did.