Millie Bobby Brown Has Had Enough of Your Criticism

Millie Bobby Brown has had enough of people criticizing her appearance and frankly, so have I. On Mar. 4, the actor took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the harsh judgement she has recently received as she’s been on the press tour for her new movie The Electric State. Brown called out specific articles that used her name in the headlines for clicks, while simultaneously disparaging how she looks.

“Let’s talk about the articles, the headlines, the people who are so desperate to tear young women down,” Brown says in the clip, citing many of the stories and their writers. “‘Why are Gen Zers like Millie Bobby Brown Ageing so Badly?’ by Lydia Hawken. ‘What Has Millie Bobby Brown Done to Her Face?’ by John Ely. ‘Millie Bobby Brown Mistaken for Someone’s Mom as She Guides Younger Sister Ava Through LA’ by Cassie Carpenter. ‘Little Britain’s Matt Lucas Takes Savage Swipe at Millie Bobby Brown’s New “Mommy Makeover” Look’ written by Bethan Edwards.”

The actor went on to question why her appearance continues to create so much controversy, likening the articles to bullying instead of true journalism. “The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, and my choices, is disturbing,” Brown says. “The fact that some of these articles are written by women? Even worse. We always talk about supporting and uplifting young women, but when the time comes, it seems easier to tear them down for clicks.”

Brown isn’t the first star to be accosted for the way that she looks. In the early ‘00s, body shaming celebrities was so normalized, and it wasn’t uncommon to see full pages in magazines ripping apart everything from a celebrity’s weight to their latest hairstyle. Over the past two decades things have certainly calmed down on the traditional media front, but celebrities today have to deal with an entirely different beast: social media.

In her documentary, Simone Biles Rising, the Olympic gold medalist recalled numerous instances where people would disparage the way her hair looked. “People hate my hair for meet days,” the gymnast recalled. "The beauty standards—everything is just too much." Just a few days ago on Feb. 28, country singer Miranda Lambert clapped back at a fan who claimed that the leggings that she was wearing didn’t look good on people with “a little extra here and there.” The singer posted the comment on her Instagram Stories, with the caption: “Good to know! I’ll do better about displaying my ‘unattractive parts’.” Her post was immediately flooded with positive comments from her fans.

While not many of us have the experience of growing up in such a public way, self-criticism is likely one of the most unifying traits that humans growing up in the social-media era share. I can only speak for myself, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to be figuring out your identity as not only a woman but also a young adult and newlywed, all while having to wade through the negativity being hurled your way at breakneck speed. If there’s anything that I can add to the fodder, it’s this: Allow girls to grow into the women that they want to be without judgement. Stop creating hit pieces disguised as cultural commentary. And for the love of all that is good in this world, let women exist as human beings rather than objects to be consumed for society’s pleasure.