May 22, 2008

Hollywood Feminist of the Day: Gwyneth Paltrow

On coming back to Hollywood after having her kids:

If you're a woman and especially if you're not 25, Hollywood is pretty cut-throat. I was very realistic about the fact that there might not be any more room for me. I definitely knew I had lost my place when I left.
Building on that quote check out this from the Guardian: The Cruel Trap Facing Hollywood's Women
Top female actors in particular - fantasies projected on the big screens of our imagination - must always appear as a feminine ideal. Of child-bearing age, they should be the image of fertility but just not be mothers yet, complying with the image of eternal jeune fille. Top actresses try to make that moment last as long as possible before entering that other world where they'll only be considered for less interesting parts: that of mature women. There seems to be no room in Hollywood cinema for a sexy 40-50 year-old wife and mother in the leading part of a film.