Anais Gutierrez
Helen Mirren is on the cover of Allure’s September issue and they’re taking down the word “ageism.” The actress, who has long addressed ageism in Hollywood, teamed up with Allure to ban the word and it’s incredible.
In the interview, Helen discusses aging, beauty and her ideas on sexiness. Which include brains more than looks. Mirren also takes on the Trumps, winding her thoughts on them.
Let’s forget about “ageism”
In a pioneer movement to embrace aging, and commit to actually helping women live their best lives in any decade, Allure magazine decided to ban the word “anti-aging.”
The magazine teamed up with Dame Helen Mirren to talk about the issue. The September issue delivered a manifesto about losing the judgmental term “anti-aging,” beauty and aging gracefully.
“Whether we know it or not, [the term is] subtly reinforcing the message that aging is a condition we need to battle — think anti-anxiety meds, antivirus software, or antifungal spray,” wrote Editor-in-Chief Michelle Lee on Monday.
“Repeat after me: Growing older is a wonderful thing because it means that we get a chance, every day, to live a full, happy life.”
The cool thing is that Allure seems to be doing more than paying lip service and put a 72-year-old on the cover, marking a good start.
As for Mirren, she got poetic on the topic.
“This word ‘anti-aging’ – we know we’re getting older. You just want to look and feel as great as you can on a daily basis,” she said.
The actress also reflected on beauty and added.
“Maybe we’re attractive, interesting, or mesmerizing, but 90 per cent of women are not what you’d call beautiful”
“Of course, beauty is inside, but still it’s a word. When it’s tied to pictures of people and amazing outfits on girls who can wear that stuff, it’s intimidating for the rest of us.”
Although Mirren is all about embracing aging and accepting who you are unashamed, “Anyone should be able to do what they want.”
“If people treat me like the age I am, I get absolutely insulted, really cross. I hate when people give up their seat for me. No, no, no. I don’t want your seat,” she added.
Sexiness, beauty, and brains
In the interview, Mirren reflected on her figure when she first shot to fame. She became a sex symbol in the 1960s after starring in ‘Age of Consent’ and stripping completely naked.
“I could see why — when I got far enough back from my young self — they called me sexy in those days,” she says.
“I fell into the cliché of sexiness: blonde hair, tits, waist, which I hated at the time because it was not fashionable. You had to be thin and have a cigarette and only wear black. And I just never fit into that look.”
She admitted that she felt insecure about her body growing up. She didn’t fit the beauty standards at that time.
“It was the time of Twiggy, and I did not look like a twig. My cheeks were too fat, legs were too short, breasts too big,” she said.
When it comes to the stars she considers sexy today, two names come to her mind, Jessica Chastain and Natalie Portman, both of whose intelligence she finds to add to their sexiness.
“It’s not necessarily to do with confidence because I’m sure if [Jessica were] sitting here, she’d say, ‘Oh, God, I’m not confident at all,” Mirren says.
“It’s an interior power that comes from her intelligence. When intelligence is combined with beauty, it’s extraordinary…[like] Natalie Portman.”
Not getting softer on Trump
Mirren has long used her platform to champion women’s issues, address ageism in Hollywood and voice her political views.
And she’s definitely not one to keep her mouth shut, especially when it comes to the Trump administration.
Most notably, she promised to be the “nastiest of all nasty women” after President Donald Trump infamously called Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman” during the final presidential debate in 2016.
This time, Donald wasn’t the Trump on the end of her verbal fire.
When it came to the president’s daughter, Mirren was candid in voicing her thoughts on Ivanka Trump and her book “Women Who Work: Redefining the Rules for Success.”
“[Ivanka] talks a good game, but there’s no substance,” she said.
“Her book is so ignorant about how the majority of women live, talking about ‘Make time for yourself to have a massage.’Puh-lease.”
“Women Who Work” was published in May, and quickly drew flak for its tone-deaf advice to working women. Particularly the passage Mirren cited, in which Trump, urged women to take time out of their busy day to enjoy the comforts of a massage.
Mirren added Melania Trump could undermine her husband’s presidency with subtle forms of resistance. Like swatting away his outstretched hand like she did during their trip to Israel.
Finally, Mirren slammed President Trump for being self-interested rather than Presidential.
“[Trump] just said and did whatever it took to get what he desired,” she said.
“That is quite terrifying because it means there’s a lack of morality there and a lack of conscientiousness.”
Source: Alternet
