Kate Winslet Is Still Challenging Hollywood’s Toxic Beauty Standards

Kate Winslet recently opened up about how she tries to challenge Hollywood’s toxic beauty standards decades after facing bullying from the media following her breakthrough role in Titanic.

It’s well-known that Hollywood pushes toxic beauty standards on women, sometimes even caring more about physical appearance, and specifically an actress’ weight, than acting talent. Women from Bryce Dallas Howard to Carrie Fisher have provided insight into how the industry pushes female actors to lose dangerous amounts of weight. It has been speculated that the intense pressure Star Wars placed on Fisher to lose weight to reprise her iconic role as Leia Organa may have even factored into her sudden passing. Meanwhile, Howard has been open about how it got to the point where she simply had to tell producers upfront that she wouldn’t lose weight for a role, as this information would sometimes impact casting decisions.

In March, Winslet discussed her own struggles with fame. While Winslet earned worldwide recognition for her role in Titanic, it also came with a barrage of bullying and body shaming from people like comedian Joan Rivers, who made cruel jokes about her sinking the Titanic. In an interview with The New York Times, Winslet revealed she developed an eating disorder at that time, which was exacerbated by the fact all of the compliments she received during that time were about her weight. However, she has also been open about the small ways she finds to challenge society’s beauty standards.

Kate Winslet talks about embracing her body

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Winslet discussed her struggles with bullying in the past, as well as her joy at seeing small improvements in the way women accept themselves today. She has played a role in pushing for such acceptance by embracing her body, even when Hollywood execs push her to do the opposite. Winslet recalled how she was filming a scene for The Mare of Easttown where she was seated at a bench in a bikini. Between takes, a crewmember approached her and suggested that she sit up straighter so it appeared like she had a flat stomach. She immediately snapped at the crewmember, “So you can’t see my belly rolls? Not on your life!”

Winslet reiterated that she doesn’t mind what she looks like on screen as long as viewers see the real her. She explained, “I take pride in it because it is my life on my face, and that matters. It wouldn’t occur to me to cover that up.” In addition to standing up for herself against people like the crewmember on The Mare of Easttown, Winslet also refuses to let anyone talk about her body, whether positive or negative. As mentioned above, she recognized how harmful even compliments can be when they’re only meant to reinforce approval of weight loss.

Winslet isn’t afraid to call people out if they talk about her weight. She told The New York Times, “So even the compliment about looking good is connected to weight. And that is one thing I will not let people talk about. If they do, I pull them up straight away.”

Winslet’s actions are important in a world where being honest and blunt about body acceptance isn’t very common. It should be the norm rather than a newsworthy phenomenon when an actress simply refuses to lose weight for a role. Fortunately, after experiencing the negative impact of Hollywood’s toxicity, Winslet is challenging the industry in ways that may help make it so that someday, future actresses won’t have the same experience she did.