OH, THE SHAME OF IT ALL
Heard to women: stop being sorry
Amber Heard wants you to stop apologizing. Right now.
The Aquaman star and global ambassador for the brand L’Oreal Paris is tired of feeling like she, and the women around her, are expected to make some sort of amends for the way they look.
“We need to challenge this notion and this long-standing concept that we, as women, have to implicitly apologize for how we look in some way,” she says. “We look too good to be taken seriously; we don’t look good enough to be seen as viable in the dating world, in the social world or even in the workplace.
“We need to stop having to apologize for how we look and just own it.”
According to the 32-year-old actor, women need to further challenge the “old status quo” that expects them to adhere to certain beauty standards, too.
“It’s age shaming, it’s beauty shaming, it’s fat shaming, it’s skinny shaming,” she says.
“You, as a woman, should have and do have the right to look whatever way you want. It doesn’t matter if you are called beautiful, you feel beautiful, you seek beautiful — or the complete opposite of it — you can and should be able to dress, and wear, and express, and feel and call yourself whatever you want.
“That’s the first step.”
In the past year, movements such as Time’s Up and #MeToo have led to the firing of top Hollywood executives and dealt career-ending blows to actors, TV personalities, CEOs and more, casting a spotlight on the treatment of women. And, according to Heard, it’s just getting started.
“We are in a rare, beautiful time where it’s not just up to politicians and public figures,” she says.
“Now with social media and in our increasingly large interconnected global community, we’re seeing universal, ubiquitous trends that are being challenged. We’re seeing antiquated institutions being challenged on a global level.”
She says this one-voice approach is creating a “solidarity with our sisters around the world” to show the “struggles we all face” are, in fact, just that: something women everywhere have experienced or will experience, in some way or another, throughout our lives.
Unless, of course, the early momentum of change continues.
“Whether you live in Singapore, or in Guadalajara, or New York City, you find that women often are standing up and fighting against some, if not all, the exact same stigmas, pressures, problems and discrimination. Whether they are wage disparity, workplace harassment disparity ... whether it is victim blaming, or access to equal pay or equal-opportunity education, we are facing the same challenges, as women, on a global level,” Heard says.
“And that, to me, is inspiring to hear only in the sense that with new media and this growing global community, we can find real solidarity and find a long-standing voice that goes beyond just hashtagging and marching.”
Speaking from Toronto, where she appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival for her new film Her Smell, Heard spoke openly and passionately about the stigmas and challenging of the status quo facing women today, her candid approach made all the more remarkable by the fact she was made available to select media through her spokesperson role for the beauty brand L’Oreal Paris.
“Two years ago, I couldn’t have imagined having such a global brand that represents and serves so many women approach me for a partnership,” she admits.
“It’s a brand that has had the tag line ‘Because You’re Worth It’ since before I was born. It seems like a very organic fit, and I feel very honoured that their messaging is so aligned with mine and some of the principles that I have always aligned myself with and identified myself with, and fought for, frankly.”
So, what does the word “beauty” mean to Heard?
“Beauty is, and has always been, what you make it. Beauty, in whatever way you see it, is the intersection of your internal power with your chosen external expression,” she summarizes.
What beauty is not, she stresses, is anti-feminist.
“Beauty is often relegated to some sort of diminutive understanding that focuses on implicit negative connotation of vanity and/or femininity,” she says.
Instead of carrying a negative connotation that’s associated with vanity or weakness, Heard urges women to repurpose the idea of beauty to be one that’s synonymous with power.
“Beauty can be power. Beauty, whatever you make of it, that’s our power,” she says. “You don’t have to be wearing makeup to feel powerful. You don’t have to wear makeup to be powerful, but my God, if red lipstick makes you feel powerful or makes you feel a little bit more empowered that day, then it is your damn right to do so.”
The reimagining of beauty, by women and by brands like L’Oreal, is one aspect of the movement that excites Heard.
“I’m excited to see the branding of beauty being challenged as we, as women, are rebranding femininity and what we understand of it. We are taking control of it,” she says.
“Whether we are doing it in high heels or combat boots, whether I am a feminist carrying a picket sign or I am a feminist wearing lipstick while carrying a picket sign, I am glad we are trying to re-own and retake possession over the term and concept of beauty.”
But, who cares what colour your lipstick is?
Apparently, the answer is many, as Heard recounted how, in a recent interview, she was posed a peculiar question.
“Someone recently asked me — and this is a real question, I’m not making this up — they asked me: Is a woman allowed to wear red lipstick and call herself a feminist at the same time?” she says.
Heard’s response was a passionate reminder that women should, quite frankly, do what they want.
“First of all, you don’t allow a woman to do anything. Second of all, call herself a feminist? Come on! Why would the colour of my lips exclude me from being a part of or being anything?” she says.
“I don’t think anyone’s worth in this ... world should be mitigated based on whether they want to wear makeup, or choose not to.
“I don’t think the colour that your lips are painted should exclude you from becoming a part of this conversation, of the growing army of women who have had enough of the status quo that relegates us to positions where we are subject to others’ interpretations of us based purely on the superficial.
“Know that you’re part of an increasingly large army of women who are saying it’s enough. Time is up. Things are changing. We’re done.”