By+Jennifer+Aniston

Let me start by saying that addressing2 gossip is something I have never done. I dont like to give energy to the business of lies， but I wanted to participate in a larger conversation that has already begun and needs to continue. Since Im not on social media， I decided to put my thoughts here in writing.

For the record， I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up3. Im fed up with the sport-like scrutiny and body shaming that occurs daily under the guise of“journalism，” the “First Amendment” and “celebrity news.”4

Every day my husband and I are harassed by dozens of aggressive photographers staked outside our home who will go to shocking lengths to obtain any kind of photo， even if it means endangering us or the unlucky pedestrians who happen to be nearby.5 But setting aside the public safety aspect， I want to focus on the bigger picture of what this insane tabloid ritual represents to all of us.6

If I am some kind of symbol to some people out there， then clearly I am an example of the lens through which we， as a society， view our mothers， daughters， sisters， wives， female friends and colleagues.7 The objectification and scrutiny we put women through is absurd and disturbing.8 The way I am portrayed by the media is simply a reflection of how we see and portray women in general， measured against some warped9 standard of beauty. Sometimes cultural standards just need a different perspective so we can see them for what they really are—a collective acceptance... a subconscious agreement. We are in charge of our agreement. Little girls everywhere are absorbing our agreement， passive or otherwise. And it begins early. The message that girls are not pretty unless theyre incredibly thin， that theyre not worthy of our attention unless they look like a supermodel or an actress on the cover of a magazine is something were all willingly buying into10. This conditioning11 is something girls then carry into womanhood. We use celebrity “news” to perpetuate this dehumanizing view of females， focused solely on ones physical appearance， which tabloids turn into a sporting event of speculation.12 Is she pregnant？ Is she eating too much？ Has she let herself go13？ Is her marriage on the rocks because the camera detects some physical “imperfection”？14

I used to tell myself that tabloids were like comic books， not to be taken seriously， just a soap opera for people to follow when they need a distraction15. But I really cant tell myself that anymore because the reality is the stalking16 and objectification Ive experienced first-hand， going on decades now， reflects the warped way we calculate a womans worth.

This past month in particular has illuminated for me how much we define a womans value based on her marital and maternal status.17 The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant （for the bajillionth time... but whos counting） points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete， unsuccessful， or unhappy if theyre not married with children.18 In this last boring news cycle about my personal life there have been mass shootings， wildfires，major decisions by the Supreme Court， an upcoming election， and any number of more newsworthy issues that “journalists” could dedicate their resources towards.19

Heres 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. Lets make that decision for ourselves and for the young women in this world who look to us as examples. Lets make that decision consciously， outside of the tabloid noise. We dont need to be married or mothers to be complete. We get to determine our own “happily ever after” for ourselves.

I have grown tired of being part of this narrative20. Yes， I may become a mother some day， and since Im laying it all out21 there， if I ever do， I will be the first to let you know. But Im not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way， as our celebrity news culture would lead us all to believe. I resent being made to feel “l(fā)ess than” because my body is changing and/or I had a burger for lunch and was photographed from a weird angle and therefore deemed one of two things： “pregnant” or “fat.”Not to mention the painful awkwardness that comes with being congratulated by friends， coworkers and strangers alike on ones fictional pregnancy （often a dozen times in a single day）.

From years of experience， Ive learned tabloid practices， however dangerous， will not change， at least not any time soon. What can change is our awareness and reaction to the toxic messages buried within these seemingly harmless stories served up as truth and shaping our ideas of who we are.22 We get to decide how much we buy into whats being served up， and maybe some day the tabloids will be forced to see the world through a different， more humanized lens because consumers have just stopped buying the bullshit.

1. for the record： 正式或明確地說，鄭重聲明。

2. address： 處理，應(yīng)對。

3. be fed up： 此處是雙關(guān)語，既可指吃飽，吃胖了，也指厭煩，受夠了。

4. 我受夠了在“新聞業(yè)”、“第一修正案”以及各種“名人新聞”的偽裝下，每天經(jīng)受的娛樂記者的審視和人身羞辱。scrutiny： 仔細(xì)檢查，審視；under the guise of： 在……的偽裝下；First Amendment： 美國憲法第一修正案，禁止美國國會制定任何法律以確立國教、妨礙宗教信仰自由、剝奪言論自由、侵犯新聞自由與集會自由、干擾或禁止向政府請?jiān)傅臋?quán)利。其中新聞自由一條保證了各種資訊和觀點(diǎn)得以自由出版的權(quán)利，并且適用于各種媒體。

5. 每天我和我的丈夫都會被很多窮追不舍的攝影師騷擾，他們每天蹲守在我家門口，不擇手段地獲取任何照片，即使這照片會對我們以及不幸入鏡的路人造成危害。harass： 騷擾，侵?jǐn)_；stake out： 監(jiān)視，在……外守候；go to（great， extreme， etc.）lengths： 不擇手段，不遺余力；endanger：危及，危害；pedestrian： 行人。

6. set aside： 把……撇開；tabloid： 小報(bào)；ritual： 慣例，老規(guī)矩。

7. 如果我對那些人來說是一種象征，那么很顯然，通過鏡頭中的我你們就能看出這個(gè)社會是怎樣看待我們的母親、女兒、姐妹、妻子、女性朋友以及同事的。lens：（相機(jī)的）鏡頭。

8. objectification： 具體化；put through： 使經(jīng)受。

9. warped： 古怪的，扭曲的。

10. buy into： 接受。

11. conditioning： n. 熏陶，訓(xùn)練。

12. perpetuate： 使長存，使永恒，后文perpetuation為名詞；dehumanizing：非人道的；sporting：〈口〉冒險(xiǎn)的，沒把握的；speculation： 猜測，推測。

13. let oneself go： 放縱自己。

14. on the rocks：（婚姻）瀕于破裂的；detect： 察覺，發(fā)現(xiàn)。

15. distraction： 消遣。

16. stalking： 暗中尾隨，跟蹤。

17. marital： 婚姻的；maternal： 母親的。

18. 媒體耗費(fèi)大量資源僅僅為了去證實(shí)我是否懷孕了（無數(shù)次了……但誰又會去數(shù)它），這一現(xiàn)象表明了長久以來的一個(gè)觀念，即不結(jié)婚生子，女人就不完整、不成功和不快樂。sheer amount： 巨大的數(shù)量；the bajillionth time： 第無數(shù)次。

19. mass shootings： 大規(guī)模槍擊事件； wildfire： 火災(zāi)；Supreme Court：（美國）聯(lián)邦最高法院；upcoming： 即將來臨的；newsworthy： 有報(bào)道價(jià)值的。

20. narrative： 報(bào)道。

21. lay out： 擺出，攤開。

22. toxic： 有毒的，有害的；serve up： 提供，獻(xiàn)上。