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Megan Fox: Hate Her Because She's Beautiful?
The Girl's Guide To Commenting On Jezebel
New York, 4:58 AM
Sun Nov 29
17 posts in the last 24 hours
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Megan Fox: Hate Her Because She's Beautiful? |
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11/13/09
I agree with the letter writer. I've been on both ends of the situation among women friends, and I think it's good she brought up this discussion, since a lot of people seem to be flat out denying that this exists among women. #meganfoxhate
11/13/09
I don't think that's why Megan Fox annoys me, I just find her annoying. And I think that she takes it to the extreme "Blah blah - I have no girlfriends, they ALL hate me"
No. You could still find yourself some girl friends if you were nice. Case in point - judgingamy is friends with a girl who's extremely beautiful, even if sometimes she does get a little jealous. #meganfoxhate
11/13/09
Competitiveness exists. Jealousy and pettiness exists. It is important that we have this discussion because denying it, or confining it to high schoolers ala Mean Girls really deepens the problem i think. #meganfoxhate
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11/12/09
Women can be mean and awful to each other, and I suspect Megan Fox got Mean Girled HARD when she was in high school (her Wiki entry mentions she was bullied, was a late bloomer, and she left early) and never quite bounced back -- I don't think she's had the chance, going from cutthroat high school straight to false, superficial Hollywood. That and I think she's now slightly afraid of women, based on that experience, and so hasn't had the chance to alter her thinking with good female friendships.
I also kind of wonder if adult female reaction to her has something of the false FOX "fair and balanced" dichotomy, where you level the field by acknowledging a positive but then also present a negative. "Megan Fox is gorgeous, but I hear she's a nightmare to work with" or "She's stunning, but stupid" or the backhanded "she looks like a pornstar" comment.
When it comes down to it, though, pretty girls sometimes have it rough -- and often, it's so subtle that it can be overlooked by others. The sisterhood does eat its own sometimes. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
I don't doubt that SOME women hate other women because of their beauty, but I really don't think it is that widespread. In my experience, hating someone because you are jealous of them is pretty rare. We all feel jealous sometimes and a little snark might slip through but human interactions are not as simple as "You have what I want, so I hate you."
I've found that when people who think other people dislike them because they are jealous are usually skipping over some major flaws in their own behavior.
Other than her vagina, there is no earthy reason to think Megan Fox should appeal to female moviegoers. She is best known for male-centered movies where she plays the eye candy. She has been advertised as a male fantasy, not as a girl who is funny or would be fun to have a beer with. Questioning her lack of female fans assumes women should like what straight men like. #meganfoxhate
11/13/09
When people have treated me badly, or been cruel, I don't think I've ever thought "Oh, they're just ENVIOUS." That seems to me an odd reaction and a slightly immature way of deflecting any responsibility for examining the situation with more nuance. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
Now, if I hate/dislike a woman for other reasons, and she's very beautiful, I'm certain it factors into it and enhances that reaction- I'm not so naive as to say looks don't matter.
But it definitely isn't as easy as saying "Oh, you just hate her because she's beautiful and you're jealous.". That's pretty dismissive. #meganfoxhate
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11/12/09
If women "hate" Megan because she's pretty and their boyfriends want her, it's not because there is an imminent possibility of her actually having sex with them or stealing them away. Women who DO dislike women for being prettier than them do so out of a general, deepseated dislike or jealousy of the sexual power they hold, not a belief that they will actually and definitely steal their man away if he gets in their vicinity. Those women do exist, just as violently jealous and possessive men exist, but they do not represent women as a whole.
Virgins or not, Victoria Secret models have quite a bit of sexual power. So if women always always resent that, why do I see so many girls on campus walking around with purses imprinted with their images and fanning them (not just Lima) on Facebook?
I mean, I guess you could say that women feel Megan is the sort of woman who would steal your man if given the chance, but she actually seems like the type more likely to loudly announce what a loser he is.
11/12/09
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11/12/09
2. Aren't there studies that show that if a person is beautiful, they have more friends and are more successful, and more "popular" in regular life? So actually the more beautiful you are, the more friends you have, scientifically/sociologically speaking? According to a couple studies I've read, anyway. So, the letter writer would appear to be pretty much wrong.
Not that I don't think that examining jealousy is an interesting topic; I just tend to think that after 12th grade it isn't jealousy as much as "jealousy," because I think that the culture likes to imagine and represent women as jealous of one another more than women are actually jealous. Most of the women I know who will bodysnark or say mean things that could be interpreted as "jealous" (by which I mean my mom and my aunts) only ever talk shit about a person if they don't like them. It's like, a beautiful woman does something mean or shady, my mom talks shit about how she thinks she's such hot shit, etc--the stuff Fox thinks means people don't like her for. But mostly it's just that the best way to express dislike of a woman is to insult her looks/sexual status, so instead of "that lady kicked me in the shins!" its "that woman is such a bitch/slut/ugly/fat/other gendered insult." #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
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11/12/09
In the first place, there are enough responses by Jezebel commenters to show that some women DO like her, admire her and enjoy her body of work.
In the second place, there are women who dislike her because they don't enjoy her body of work. Or the impolitic statements that she makes. Okay, sure, it's her right to say what she wants. Doesn't mean people have to love her for it. People who walk through life saying what they think without the filter of politeness tend to attract pretty diverse responses. And those that put themselves forward for public scrutiny and make those statements to the mass media even more so.
I'm not denying that jealousy between women exists. Of course it does. We're jealous for many reasons. But because beauty holds such high currency in our society, jealousy of beauty is probably the most common. I'd say it's also quite likely that some of the women who dislike our Ms Fox do so because they perceive that she is in the position that she is because she is beautiful. And they are jealous of that.
But I don't recall yesterday any asssertion in response to that particular article that women do not experience jealousy of beauty, as our letter writer suggests.
Perhaps that jealousy is a little irrational. Certainly when that jealousy results in hateful behaviour to the genetically attractive it is wrong. However, as long as society perpetuates the idea that beauty is the most valuable asset a woman can possess, as long as society is seen to grant boons to the beautiful that the less attractive will never get, as long as the beautiful are attributed with virtues they may not possess purely based on their looks, then I will say that such jealousy is quite natural, if not admirable.
And at the end of the day, I still couldn't care less about Megan Fox. And I really we could just get over the fact that not everybody likes her. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
11/12/09
Katherine Hepburn was hated, villified by Hollywood and its gossip columnists for being too strong, too assertive, too beautiful for her finely-tailored britches, and too Bryn Mawr.
She didn't whine about it. She went to Broadway instead - where she was hated, villified, etc., etc. She then won a whole heap of Oscars and declined to accept them on the grounds that acting wasn't a popularity contest.
You, Miss, are no Kate Hepburn. Quit yer bitchin'. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
there was megan, in bright primary colors like screaming eyecandy: bright red lipstick! jetblack long hair! bright sexy outfit! mouth wide open sexyface! staring right at the camera.
and there next to her sat cate: her hair short/ pulled back; soft, almost invisible makeup; non-lipsticked mouth closed in a private smile; and looking off to the side, indifferent to the camera. she was a soft monochromatic brushstroke next to megan.
and my eye passed over megan and went straight to cate. to my eye, she was the true beauty in the photo. if i should be jealous of anybody, it's cate blanchett and her incredible cheekbones, her amazing talent. but i'm not jealous of her~~ i adore this woman.
i don't hate megan fox at all. but to me she's just a hollywood caricature who's always "on." it's like those little yippy dogs that are always looking for attention. it's just tiring, not sexy. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
11/12/09
you and me both, then. when i saw that 2007 transformers image, i was like, wow she's changed her look so much in the past couple of years. how weird to look like that and think you had to ramp up your appearance? why not ramp up the quality of the acting roles you take, instead? #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
She's probably the most honest Sexbomb in the business and people hate her for it. She points out she has bad skin and hates her figure we shout 'DISINGENOUS', if she says she's powerful because of her looks we scream 'IRRITATING ANTI-FEMINIST'. Girl can't win for losing. #meganfoxhate
11/12/09
I think the reaction TO her speaks volumes about the rest of society. #meganfoxhate
11/13/09