8 Comments

"curly hair and glasses, so the audience is supposed to believe she’s ugly." WHOOPS MY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA HAS ENTERED THE CHAT. Fuck this trope, I cried hard at the princess diaries scene where they reveal a princess and her hair's been straightening and she has contacts. No wonder kids literally called me "Ugly girl" in elementary school. Thanks for bringing light to these issues because even though I have way more self confidence than I did as an awkward 5th grader I will never ever forget how it felt to be her.

Expand full comment

I feel that! Everyone always told me my celebrity doppelgänger was the "before" Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries lol.

Expand full comment

The old curly hair and glasses + chartreuse filter trick. This piece had me laughing and crying. And also reading your essay on Khloe Kardashian, and this question: "What if we took all the time, money, and effort we invest in beauty culture and used it to divest from beauty culture, instead?" THIS is how I rewire my brain when I start to look up photos of fake boobs. It's so simple, I almost can't believe it. THANK YOU.

Expand full comment

Haha thank you! I am SO glad to hear you find that framework helpful. It's done so much for me too (especially bc I've already learned the hard way that investing time/effort in chasing impossible beauty standards only leads to... more self-hate and anxiety!).

Expand full comment

*The reason I got a blowout yesterday...*

Expand full comment

Lollll

Expand full comment

Jess, how are you so brilliant. A huge yes to ALL of this. It made me so sad reading how both these actresses felt but also it made me RAGE.

Expand full comment

Thank you! BIG SAME!!

Expand full comment