Reese Witherspoon:
Awesome for 2 reasons.
First, she isn't superficial and obsessed with her physical appearance. She is the mother of two children, and her body reflects this. Unlike many female celebrities, she doesn't go to extreme measures to try to make her body look like it did before having children. Instead, she is fine with the way her body looks post-pregnancy.
“I am covered in stretch marks and cellulite but it doesn’t bother me at all. My body will never be the same again but I really don’t care.”
"Your body never looks that same after you have children. My breasts are not what they were before I breast-fed. I have cellulite. I have stretch marks. I know if I’m going to make it in this business, I’m not going to make it on being sexy."
"Hollywood is one of those endless competitions, but it's like running a race toward nothing. There's no winning. You're never going to win the pretty race. I just want to be the best version of myself that I can be."
"I feel like there's a race being run in Los Angeles for some unattainable goal -to be the best, the skinniest, the most beautiful. I just admit that that's what I'll never be."
Second, she believes in women's capabilities and feminism.
"I feel there are certain people who are systematically ripping [feminism] down because of their lack of regard and their ignorance about what the women before us had to go through."
"What gets me is how many women - young women - give up their power and their sense of self. Thinking they're going to get more out of life if they take off their clothes and objectify themselves, instead of functioning on the principle that they're smart and capable, that you can be an actress and not be on the covers of T&A magazines. I'm flabbergasted by how many legitimate actresses do that. It blows my mind."
"I don't think these women are stupid. I think they're selling a personality that's very marketable: Wouldn't it be fun if we were all gorgeous and didn't have a care? But creating a cultural icon out of someone who goes, "I'm stupid, isn't it cute?" makes me want to throw daggers at them! I want to say to them, "My grandma did not fight for what she fought for, and my mother did not fight for what she fought for, so you can start telling women it's fun to be stupid. Saying that to young women, little girls, my daughter? It's not OK."
Nicole Kidman:
She is a goodwill ambassador for United Nations Development Fund for Women, which would hold the entire league of nations in the UN responsible for making sure women in countries plagued with antiquated gender policies are educated and have access to proper health care.
She fights for international gender equality, with an emphasis on violence against women.
"Violence against women is not prosecuted because it is not a top government and urgent social priority. We can change this."
“These champions need and deserve our support. Not with a box of band-aids, but with a comprehensive, well-funded approach that acknowledges that women’s rights are human rights. It is time for policies that intentionally involve society’s key communities - from health and education departments to the police and judiciary - to deliver on that commitment. To succeed, it requires political will at the highest levels.”
She recently requested $1 billion over five years for anti-violence programs.
She also sees the realities of how Hollywood represents women poorly. She admits that the film industry contributes to violence by portraying women as sex objects. And she said she refuses to take film roles that portray women as weak sex objects.
"I can't be responsible for all of Hollywood, but I can certainly be responsible for my own career."
