Rashida Jones has penned an essay for Glamour in which she defends and expands upon some of the ideas expressed in her controversial #stopactinglikewhores Tweet session:
The fact that I was accused of “slut-shaming,” being anti-woman, and judging women’s sex lives crushed me. I consider myself a feminist. I would never point a finger at a woman for her actual sexual behavior, and I think all women have the right to express their desires. But I will look at women with influence—millionaire women who use their “sexiness” to make money—and ask some questions. There is a difference, a key one, between “shaming” and “holding someone accountable.”
She creates a distinction between “being a whore” and “acting like a whore” — I mean, applying the word “whore” to another woman in a scolding or censoring way is never a good idea, regardless of intent, but okay, she does have a salient point — and argues that “the poles, the pasties, the gyrating” are not “showing female sexuality; this is showing what it looks like when women sell sex… so much of it feels staged for men, not for our own pleasure.”
Regardless of whether you agree with Rashida or whether you see her argument as reductive and still somehow slut-shaming, it is great to see a serious discussion about feminism and pop culture happening in the pages of a ladymag. And maybe this means Open Letter Season has finally closed! [Glamour]
The real Von Trapp family wanted Anne Hathaway to play Maria. They were worried about Carrie Underwood‘s acting inexperience, and, um, rightfully so, it turns out. [ONTD]
Gwyneth Paltrow has won the possibly-fictional war between Team Goop and Vanity Fair the magazine. As you have likely read somewhere on the Internet, VF was planning some sort of “scathing takedown” on the actress; that takedown has been softened considerably. This is what happens when you tell someone George Clooney will not attend their party unless they do what you say, I guess. [Radar]
- Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux bought their Christmas tree. Here is an extremely earnest sentence about it: “Jennifer seemed excited about a big noble fir and Justin agreed with her. You could see she took her choice very seriously and made sure to pick out the perfect tree for their new house.” [E!]
- Exactly how authentic is Miley Cyrus, you wonder. 100 percent. The answer is 100 percent. [NY Daily News]
- Justin Bieber and his entourage were detained in an Australian airport and searched for drugs. Assuming that you are 400 years old, TMZ explains what a vaporizer is and notes that one of Justin’s friends was found in possession of one. [TMZ]
- This picture of Orlando Bloom and his son playing with lil’ swords. I can’t. I just cannot. [Just Jared]
- The cast of The Sound of Music, Live! had a party in the set, in which they chortled gleefully and toasted to boring and offending America in a 7-hour long live musical theater event. [Page Six]
- Baby arbiter of culture and very important artist North West hung out with Jeff Koons. [ONTD]
- Just what you always wanted: MORE photos from Katy Perry and John Mayer‘s “Who [sic] You Love” photo shoot. [Perez Hilton]
- Mila Kunis Wears Piece of Jewelry; World Stops on Its Axis Due to Weight of Speculations. [Perez Hilton]
- The horrible, gross, invasive “leaked” Britney Spears texts are probably fake, says her legal team. [Radar]
- Kate Middleton wore a necklace from Zara. [Hello]
- Joe Jonas grew a giant, bristly moustache, defying all the naysayers and the haters. [Just Jared]
- Oh, good: here’s an end of 2013 celebrity baby ranking. [PopSugar]
- Amanda Bynes has enrolled as a student at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. [TMZ]