Sarah Jessica Parker has opened up about the heavy price she had had to pay for her longstanding role as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City and And Just Like That. In a recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, SJP revealed the criticisms she received about her physical appearance while filming Sex and the City, at times left her โsobbing.โ
โI really wasnโt prepared for public commentary, and that was really unpleasant at times,โ she said. This wasnโt commentary critiquing her performance but rather sprays about her appearance. โStuff that I couldnโt change and wouldnโt change and had never considered changing. After hearing something I was like, โWhat? Somebody would say that?โโ
She recalled one magazineโs particularly cutting remark about her body. โIt was like a kick in the rubber parts,โ she said. โI sobbed because it felt so purposeful.โ

A Cultural Pattern: The Focus On Womenโs Bodies Over Their Talent
SJP is not the first โ and unfortunately not the last โ woman in the public arena who has been on the receiving end of unwarranted critiques on how they look. Historically society has granted us all a licence to judge women at our whim. Across decades and across the globe when women step onto the public stage, their bodies are scrutinised, not their performances. Instead the world focuses on their thighs. Their jaws. Their clothes. Their hair. Their weight.
The collective whisper says: โShe should have tried harder. She could have been thinner, prettier, more polished.โ
And surely itโs time this stops.

Celebrity Voices Against Lookism: Others Speak Out Alongside SJP
SJPโs revelations are not isolated incidents. They are cultural barometers.
When Kate Winslet confronted critics who said she looked โmelted and pouredโ into a redโcarpet dress, she remarked it was โabsolutely appallingโ, condemning not just the image, but the spirit behind it.
For Selena Gomez โ one of the most trolled women on the planet โ the most frequent unsolicited comments she sees are about her weight, with โeveryoneโ online having โsomething to sayโ about it. โItโs really making me sad and โ not even sad cause, Iโm not a victim, I just think itโs made me a tad bitter, and I feel really guilty for saying that, but itโs true.โ
Pop singer Lorde has had similar experiences, lamenting the abuse she received online at the start of her career: โI remember being made aware of my looks and my body in a way that I had never been. I remember all these kids online were like, โFuck her, sheโs got really far-apart eyesโ. Just weird shit like that. It rocked my foundations and could have fucked me, you know?โ
Last year, Gomez angrily clapped back at TikTok users who were commenting on the fact she was holding her hands across her stomach to hide her body while at a press tour event. โThis makes me sick,โ she commented online saying her stomach was inflamed due to a health condition. โI donโt care that I donโt look like a stick figure. I donโt have that body. End of story. No I am NOT a victim. Iโm just human.โ

Ending The Cycle: Changing The Message For Future Generations
And its humanity that needs to rise above the hatred extolled on social media platforms. Trolling rooted in misogyny thrives on silence, on invisibility, and social acceptance. Academics argue that we must tackle โlookismโ not as isolated incidents, but as systemic bias, embedded in gendered norms that see womenโs worth tied to physical appearance.
I donโt know about you but Iโm so sick of this conversation.
The only way to try to stop this is to become a vocal ally. Recognise that there is power in community and the collective in transforming digital culture. Call out the toxic behaviour. When you see critiques of appearance of female actors, politicians, commentators, journalists, sports stars itโs up to all of us to help a sister out.
Challenge online jibes with comments calling out the behaviour like โWhy fixate on her face? Her acting was amazingโ. You get the vibe.
For if nothing changes, we will continue to pay the price and send a message to the next generation: that talent alone is not enough, that women must first look right. That is the message that needs to end most of all.