Jennifer Aniston has been a beloved figure in film and TV for over three decades. Her charming, radiant, warm personality is one many fans have felt would be fitting for a motherhood — but it’s a role she’s never taken on. It turns out, that’s not necessarily for a lack of trying.
Unfortunately, the Friends star’s childless and often single status has been relentlessly ridiculed for years — to the point she felt forced to address the noise. In 2016, she penned a vulnerable op-ed for the Huffington Post criticizing mainstream media’s insensitivity. She declared at the time:
“The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.”
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The Just Go with It star also criticized society’s propensity to determine a woman’s value “based on her marital and maternal status.” She wrote:
“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.”
Extremely well said. Now, nearly 10 years later, she’s circling back to the topic. During an interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK published on Wednesday, the Along Came Polly star reflected on her op-ed and on being the subject of endless scrutiny:
“They didn’t know my story, or what I’d been going through over the past 20 years to try to pursue a family, because I don’t go out there and tell them my medical woes.”
What many may not know is Jennifer had privately been going through IVF so she could start a family, but the treatments were ultimately unsuccessful. It wasn’t something she revealed for another few years, until an interview with Allure in 2022. On her medical journey, the Marley & Me actress continued:
“That’s not anybody’s business. But there comes a point when you can’t not hear it — the narrative about how I won’t have a baby, won’t have a family, because I’m selfish, a workaholic. It does affect me — I’m just a human being. We’re all human beings. That’s why I thought, ‘What the hell?’ [and wrote the op-ed].”
The Morning Show star noted she spoke for herself AND on behalf of other women in similar positions “because I knew a lot of women at the time who were trying to have kids, who were dealing with IVF. So it did feel like it was not only for myself, but for any women who were struggling with the same issue.”
What a trying journey it’s been for Jen. We’re so glad she’s taken back the power from critics. She knows her worth and that’s all that matters!
Unfortunately she also knows that social media has perhaps become a more invasive force than tabloids ever were! She laments:
“So now any schmuck can stay anonymous and write whatever the hell they want to write.”
What are your thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below.
[Images via Vanity Fair/YouTube]