Celeb Women Discuss Objectification And "Male Gaze"

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Throughout history, a woman's status has often (and sadly) been based on her looks. From Old Hollywood stars to the celebs of today, many of our favorite famous women have simply been viewed as objects. However, in the past few decades, we have started to realize just how much the "male gaze" has dominated women's lives and our culture at large...
Fortunately, many celeb women have taken it upon themselves to speak out about their experiences with the "male gaze" to shed light on the misogyny that still permeates society. From Sydney Sweeney to Demi Moore, here's 11 famous women who've spoken out about being objectified throughout their careers:
Sydney Sweeney:
In 2024, Sydney Sweeney's comments from an interview with Variety magazine went viral when she discussed how she feels the public views her: "People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I've signed my life away. That I'm not on a human level anymore, because I'm an actor. That these characters are for everybody else, but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore." She continued, "It's this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over."So, people were surprised on May 29, 2025, when Dr. Squatch announced their collaboration with the Euphoria star to create "Bathwater Bliss" — a limited edition run of soap bars containing drops of her bathwater. In the Instagram announcement, the company stated the soap smelled like "Morning Wood" and that it was produced "Because y'all wouldn't stop asking." (Sweeney's first collaboration with the company was in October 2024.)
In a press release for the collab, the 27-year-old stated, "When your fans start asking for your bathwater, you can either ignore it, or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap. It's weird in the best way, and I love that we created something that's not just unforgettable, it actually smells incredible and delivers like every other Dr. Squatch product I love. Hopefully, this helps guys wake up to the realities of conventional personal care products and pushes them towards natural."
Sabrina Carpenter:
On June 11, 2025, fans were thrilled when Sabrina Carpenter announced the follow-up album to her 2024 megahit, Short n' Sweet, on Instagram; however, the excitement quickly turned to controversy due to the album's cover. The album, called Man's Best Friend, shows Carpenter on her hands and knees while an unseen (seemingly) male figure yanks her hair.Much of the online discourse has revolved around whether the album art is satirical or simply degrading to women in general, leading one X user to ask, "Does she [Carpenter] have a personality outside of sex?" Carpenter shared the tweet and responded, "girl yes and it is goooooood."
This isn't the first time Carpenter's artistic choices have made headlines as both her live performances of the hit "Juno," in which she simulates different sex positions onstage and her infamously raunchy "Nonsense" outros, such as this one she used at Coachella in 2024: "Made his knees so weak, had to spread mine/He's drinking my bathwater like it's red wine /Coachella, see you back here when I headline," have sparked debate.
Scarlett Johansson:
Since Black Widow's MCU debut in 2010's Iron Man 2, there has been much debate over whether or not Marvel has objectified its female heroes, despite portraying them as powerful characters on their own.In 2021, during promotional interviews for Black Widow's standalone film, Johansson spoke about her character's previous hyper-sexualization: "While [Iron Man 2] was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualised, you know?" She continued, "[She is] really talked about like she's a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever – like a piece of ass, really. And Tony even refers to her as something like that at one point…'I want some.''The Marriage Story actor was seemingly referring to the scene in which Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark flips through photos of the superhero (including one of her in lingerie) before saying, 'I want one."
She added, "Maybe at that time, that actually felt like a compliment. You know what I mean? Because my thinking was different … My own self-worth was probably measured against that type of comment [but], like a lot of young women, you come into your own and you understand your own self-worth."
Ariana Grande:
Ariana Grande is another celebrity woman who has faced and publicly addressed misogyny on multiple occasions.In 2015, amid speculation about her romantic status after her breakup with rapper Big Sean, Grande penned an essay on X (formerly known as Twitter), where she addressed the "misogyny" and unrelenting "double standards" for women in the public eye, writing: "I meant what I said about not being Sean's ex is that I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man's past, present or future." She continued, 'If a woman TALKS about sex openly ... she is shamed! But if a man talks or RAPS freely about all the women (or more commonly used 'bitches' / hoes' ... how lovely) he's had ... he is regaled."
A year later, the "Dangerous Woman" singer detailed a "sick" encounter she had with one of her then-boyfriend Mac Miller's fans. The encounter began when a fan approached her and Miller in their car and spoke to them through the window, letting Miller know how much he admired the rapper, before looking at Grande and allegedly stating, "Ariana is sexy as hell, man; I see you, I see you hitting that!"
Ali Larter:
Ever since the Taylor Sheridan-written Landman premiered in November 2024, the show has been thoroughly critiqued regarding its portrayal of female characters, with reviews titled "Man, does this new Taylor Sheridan drama hate women" and "Where Are the Believable Female Characters in Landman?"NPR's Eric Deggans deemed women in the show to be written as "mostly empty caricatures," claiming, "It's tough to imagine drafting actresses as amazing as...[Ali] Larter, only to leave them playing caricatures and male fantasies. So I'm hoping Sheridan will accept the challenge of creating female characters who exist outside the male gaze – beyond empty tropes, oversized emotionalism and calculated reflections of male energy."
In June 2025, Larter opened up to the Hollywood Reporter, about her feelings towards the criticism, "I'm also like, 'Objectify me. C'mon.' Nobody's putting me in a position that I'm not comfortable being in. I have two children. I've been married for 19 years. I love playing this character. If there was something I was uncomfortable with, I wouldn't do it. What's more uncomfortable is that people are so uncomfortable by their sexuality."
Billie Eilish:
Billie Eilish has long been outspoken about her relationship with her body and the way she dresses, admitting that she began wearing oversized clothing as a teen because her body "was the initial reason for my depression..." In a 2019 interview with Vogue Australia, Eilish stated that she wore her clothing "800 sizes bigger" than needed, admitting that it allowed her to keep a part of herself a "mystery." In a later advertisement for Calvin Klein, she elaborated on her philosophy, "Nobody can have an opinion because they haven't seen what's underneath, you know? Nobody can be like, 'She's slim-thick', 'She's not slim-thick', 'She's got a flat ass', 'She got a fat ass'. Nobody can say any of that because they don't know."When her world tour kicked off in Miami in March 2020, fans praised the now 23-year-old for addressing bodyshamers in a video interlude where she was shown undressing and dipping into a black pool while saying, "Some people hate what I wear, some people praise it. Some people use it to shame others, some people use it to shame me. But I feel you watching always..."
A little over a year later, in June 2021, Eilish debuted a new look on the cover of British Vogue, featuring her natural blonde hair and form-fitting outfits. However, some fans were confused and even angered by her change in appearance.
Sofia Vergara:
In 2014, Sofia Vergara encountered backlash for taking part in a skit during the Emmys, in which she posed on a rotating pedestal, showcasing her body, while Bruce Rosenblum, then-president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, gave a dull speech. Rosenblum concluded his presentation by saying, 'What truly matters is that we never forget that our success is based on always giving the viewer something compelling to watch," seemingly as a "cheeky" reference to Vergara.Criticism immediately began rolling in on social media with even Katie Couric tweeting, "I love @SofiaVergara but did anyone find that schtick somewhat offensive?" The skit was later criticized in Time magazine, with Sarah Begley writing, "It does a disservice to Vergara's skills as an actress and comedian to pretend — even in a self-conscious way — like she's just a body. Sure, it was self-aware – but a self-aware wink doesn't work like a get-out-of-jail-free card."
However, the Modern Family star quickly defended herself and the skit, stating, "I think it's absolutely the opposite [of demeaning]. It means that somebody can be hot and also be funny and make fun of herself. I think it's ridiculous that somebody started this—I know who she was—who has no sense of humor [and should] lighten up a little bit."
Emily Ratajkowski:
In 2015, Emily Ratajkowski faced criticism after defending her role in the music video for Robin Thicke's controversial 2013 song "Blurred Lines," admitting that she nearly turned the gig down, but ultimately saw it as a ''good opportunity." In an interview with the Daily Mail at the time, she claimed, "I think you can be a sexual woman, empowered and be a feminist...I think sexuality should be empowering to women, it's not always misogynistic or exploitative."However, when her 2021 memoir, My Body, was released, the Gone Girl actor wrote of her "choice" feminism in the early days of her career: 'At the time I thought it was really empowering to capitalize on your sexuality, but ultimately you're trying to appeal to men."
A little over a year later, in a January 2023 episode of her podcast, High Low with EmRata, Ratajkowski spoke about her struggle to embody an "independent woman": "I have always felt like a strong woman. As you get older, you're financially secure, become your own boss, and you don't need a man...You think, 'OK, I did it' [achieved independence]. Which is so f*cked up that I'd build my whole life around it."
Katy Perry:
In 2024, after a two-year hiatus from music videos, Katy Perry released "Woman's World." The song and video encountered criticism before it was even released, as it was revealed that Perry had collaborated with Dr. Luke. In a later interview on Call Her Daddy, the 40-year-old addressed the controversial collab, "I understand that [working with him] started a lot of conversations, and he was one of many collaborators that I collaborated with. But the reality is, it comes from me." She continued, 'The truth is, I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis, and he was one of the people to help facilitate all that. One of the writers, one of the producers. I am speaking from my own experience.'The video, which premiered on July 11, 2024, featured Rosie the Riveter-clad Perry and her backup dancers dancing with vibrators and using urinals, while singing lyrics such as, "Fire in her eyes / Feminine divine / She was born to shine."
Some fans were delighted by the over-the-top video, while others were a little less enthusiastic, with one tweeting, "For something that's supposed to be about feminism and girl power it's literally just using all of the girl stereotypes in a super (sexual) way, making things like Rosie the riveter and others hot, flashy & 'extra. Basically, ew."
Emma Stone:
When the fantasy-comedy film, Poor Things, hit theaters in 2023, it immediately sparked debate amongst filmgoers who argued about the ways women and feminism were represented in the movie. In the film, Bella Baxter (played by Emma Stone) is a woman who is brought back to life with the brain of an unborn child. People argued that the film was exploitative of Bella's childlike nature, especially regarding sex scenes and nudity, as the character was practically incapable of saying "No," leading to questions about the movie's views on consent.Emma Stone responded to these criticisms in an interview with The Times, noting, 'If it helps, as the person who played it and produced it, I didn't see her as a child in any of those scenes."
In another interview, Stone stated that she found it "challenging" to respond to critiques of the film because the majority of them removed her from the equation: "There's been a lot of questions about, 'Oh, this was a male writer and a male director, the male gaze in this situation – how does that feel?'"
Demi Moore:
During an interview with the New York Times titled "Demi Moore Is Done With The Male Gaze" to promote the body-horror film, The Substance, Moore opened up about the expectations people have placed upon her as an aging woman in Hollywood.When asked why she decided to sign onto the horror movie, the 62-year-old noted that going into filming, she realized "this is not about me looking great, and in fact, there was a certain liberation in the role that wasn't having to be perfect. It's not that there aren't shots in it where I go, 'Ugh, my ass looks awful,' but I'm also OK with it."
She later touched on her past struggles with disordered eating and extreme exercise: "I think there was a general sense about certain expectations, in particular coming out of the '80s and the '90s, where there was a greater pressure for perfection. If you look at any advertising, everything was very clean and perfect, and there wasn't any body inclusivity. There was a more extreme standard of beauty that existed..."
Do you know of any other famous women who've spoken out about being objectified by the male gaze? Let us know in the comments!
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