‘Vampire’: Anne Hathaway’s face is going viral

The catch-22 of being a woman is you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t and no matter what, everyone has an opinion.

OPINION

The catch-22 of being a woman is you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t and no matter what, everyone has an opinion.

Movie star Anne Hathaway has gone viral for attending a fashion week event and looking, well, depending on what theory you want to believe, either extremely good or unnervingly fake.

The 42-year-old has amassed over 27 million views on X after a pop culture account posted a clip of her and now suddenly everyone’s talking about her face.

She looked great and was trying out the sleeked-back, high ponytail hairstyle that Ariana Grande made so popular when she was dating comedian Pete Davidson.

Interestingly, though, everyone was talking about her face; someone claimed she looked like a “vampire” because she doesn’t age.

Someone else said her face was now a “shocker”, and people were debating whether or not she’d had any cosmetic procedures done.

Anne Hathaway’s face has gone viral. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Many comments praised her looks and called her “beautiful,” but then there were others claiming she looked like she had a “new face” and there was simply no middle ground.

It’s all very complicated.

On one hand, commenting on a woman’s face seems so early 2000s, but at the same time, celebrity women tend to set the beauty standards.

There is definitely a reasonable argument to be made about why it is important to remember what a natural woman looks like.

Only so for the people that chose not to get work done, don’t wonder around thinking there’s something wrong with them and everyone else has magically smooth skin.

Anne Hathaway’s one of the famous women in the world. Picture: X Photo/Kathy Willens

So many people were talking about her face. Picture: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

The problem of course with all of this, is that at the end of day, Hathaway’s also an individual, and I don’t think she owes anyone an explanation about her face.

Maybe she’s just trying a new makeup look, maybe the high ponytail makes her skin look more “taunt,” or maybe she’s had work done, but are we entitled to know that?

The truth is that whenever women speak out about what they decide to do or don’t do cosmetically, they are condemned.

If they admit they’ve gotten work done they’re called “fake” and accused of creating unrealistic beauty standards.

If they come out and say they’ve decided not to get work done, well, people either think their lying or online no doubt somewhere someone will accuse them of “ageing badly” it’s just all a nightmare.

The way we treat famous women is complex. Picture: Photo/Reed Saxon

The debate about her face is disappointing. Picture: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Variety

There’s no way women can exist in the public eye and age without someone being shamed on how they decide to do it.

Throughout all this, famous men get to age without much scrutiny, usually with girlfriends decades younger than them.

The debate about Hathaway’s face is disappointing, not because I have any particular moral judgment on wondering how a celebrity looks good. Sure, most of us aren’t saying it online, but lots of us are thinking it.

My issue is that there’s so much judgement and shaming.

I don’t think we need to know what women do with their faces until we’re all prepared to be nicer to them.

We can’t demand transparency from women, if all we’re going to do is shame them over it? Let’s face it … who wants to be honest if they’re just going to be bullied as a result.

Originally published as ‘Vampire’: Anne Hathaway’s face is going viral