🔗 Share this article

Women are rallying behind acclaimed star Zeta-Jones following she encountered disparaging remarks on social media over her looks at a recent red carpet appearance.

Zeta-Jones attended a Netflix event in LA recently during which an online segment about her role in the latest Wednesday became dominated due to remarks concerning her appearance.

Widespread Backing

Laura White, 58, labelled the online criticism "complete nonsense", noting that "men aren't given this sell-by/use-by date which women face".

"Men don't have this sell-by/use-by date imposed on women," said the pageant winner.

Author aged 50, Sali Hughes, said differently from men, women were unfairly judged growing older and the actor deserves to be able to look however she liked.

The Social Media Storm

Within the clip, uploaded to Facebook and attracted more than 2.5m views, the actor, who is from Mumbles, Swansea, discussed the pleasure of exploring her role, the Addams Family matriarch, in the latest season.

Yet many of the hundreds of comments focused on her years and were critical towards her looks.

The online backlash triggered significant support for Zeta-Jones, featuring a popular post from one Facebook user which said: "There is criticism for women when they get treatments and criticize them when they don't have sufficient procedures."

Commenters also spoke up for her, with one writing: "This is aging naturally and she looks gorgeous."

Some called her as "beautiful" and "very attractive", and one comment read that "she appears her age - that's called life."

Making a Point

She appeared on air earlier without any makeup to "prove a point" and to highlight there was no set "template" for what a female in her 50s ought to appear.

Similar to numerous females of her years, she stated she "looks after herself" not to look younger but to feel "better" and look "vibrant".

"Growing older is an honour and if we can live the best we can, this is what is important," she stated further.

She contended that men were not judged by identical appearance ideals, stating "nobody scrutinizes the age of Tom Cruise, George Clooney or Tom Jones might be - they just are described as 'fantastic'."

She explained it was a key factor she entered the competition the classic category, to "show that females of a certain age continue to exist" and "possess it".

Unfair Scrutiny

The author, a writer and commentator of Welsh origin, stated that although Zeta-Jones was "stunning" that is "beside the point", stating further she deserves to be able to appear in any way she chooses absent her years facing scrutiny.

Hughes argued the social media vitriol showed no woman was "exempt" and that females should not face the "perpetual story" that they are lacking or young enough - a situation that is "galling, irrespective of the individual targeted".

Asked if men face identical criticism, she responded "not at all", adding females are criticized merely for demonstrating the "boldness" to live on the internet while aging.

A No-Win Situation

Even with cosmetic companies promoting "youthful longevity", she commented women were still face criticism whether they aged gracefully or underwent treatments such as plastic surgery or fillers.

"If you age without intervention, people say more could be done; if you get work done, you're accused of failing to age well," she remarked further.