While there has been a lot of recent discussion on ageism and sexism in the showbiz industry, sadly it looks as though it will be a long time before body image and age are not central to discussions regarding female entertainers.
This has been proven in the most disillusioning manner this weekend, following the publication of a controversial article on actress Gillian Anderson, in the Daily Mail.
The piece, titled ‘Ageless Gillian and the BotoX Files’, has prompted outrage by seeming to suggest that the 47-year-old has undergone various surgical procedures to look the way she does today.
The article, a full-page spread, includes a large close-up photo of the star’s face, with ‘experts’ breaking down her features and the possible surgical enhancements she may have undergone.
If this wasn’t bad enough, the article itself is just as offensive, with the author also picking Anderson’s appearance apart.
If it weren't so sad, this bollocks would have made my day. https://t.co/UHAg2pMTxL pic.twitter.com/ruOfIjr3eh
— Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) February 11, 2016
“Unusually for a woman in her 40s, she bears no deep frown lines and there is no sign her skin is sagging at the hairline. The light reflected off the right-hand side of her forehead suggests the skin is stretched very tightly across her temple – which is often a tell-tale sign of muscle-freezing Botox injections,” read one particularly infuriating line.
A screenshot of the piece was shared by the pioneering ‘EverydaySexism’ Twitter account, which was spotted by Anderson herself. In a move that has been praised online, the star then managed to annihilate the article well within Twitter’s 140 character limit.
“If it weren’t so sad, this b******s would have made my day,” she wrote.
*drops mic*
