Actress talks to NBC about her reaction to criticism on her appearance

Apr 13, 2012 18:31 GMT  ·  By
Ashley Judd addresses critics in “puffy face controversy” in new interview
   Ashley Judd addresses critics in “puffy face controversy” in new interview

Actress Ashley Judd is taking even more time out of her busy schedule to address the so-called “puffy face controversy” that started when she made a TV appearance looking slightly different than a couple of months before. Below is her interview with NBC's Nightly News.

Judd has already taken a very public stand on the matter, even after her publicist denied plastic surgery rumors, saying that her puffy appearance was due to steroids treatment for a sinus infection that would not go away.

She's written an essay for The Daily Beast, pointing out that the problem was bigger than we might think – it lies within the misogynistic society that is constantly putting pressure on women to look a certain way, judging them regardless of how they look.

On the NBC interview, Ashley says basically the same, even stressing that she's convinced that countless other women can relate to what she's been going through these past few days, since the controversy began.

“I think it's hatred of women that invites the criticism. I think it's the objectification of girls and women,” Judd explains, blasting her critics for the “nasty, vitriolic and gloating tone” they adopted in this conversation.

“There was no presumption of goodwill. The conversation went straight to, 'Oh my gosh',” the star adds, speaking of her reaction to the debate that started after she made said TV appearance in March.

“I started to catch the double bind where, you know, my face looks puffy, 'She's had work,' you know And then, look at the same image in a different interpretation by a separate set of people is, 'Oh, come on, she doesn't even have any wrinkles at all, she's clearly had work.' So, I look bad, I've had work. I look too good, I've had work,” the star says.

Either way, there's no winning.

On the bright side, Judd believes a change can be made for the better, but only if she and other women who have experienced this (and most of them have, she estimates) speak up and go against “the system,” thus refusing to be further objectified.