Althouse: "There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty, but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power."

December 6, 2018

"There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty, but I can’t play into this false narrative that my sexuality is mutually exclusive from my power."

"My physical appearance, no matter how it affects others, is solely the responsibility of people around me. You know, male characters in movies included. It is their responsibility, not a woman’s. My sexuality, my femininity, in whatever way I want to express it, is mine and my own."

Said Amber Heard, using her own very special form of expression, quoted at Tom & Lorenzo.

65 comments:

Chuck said...: A meta-question: Has there ever been an Althouse post with zero (0) comments?

Unfortunately, I have already spoiled that record for this particular post.; 12/6/18, 12:17 PM
MikeR said...: Is this as completely incoherent as it sounds?; 12/6/18, 12:17 PM
Anthony said...: Who cares, she's hot, likes other women, guns, and cars.; 12/6/18, 12:18 PM
YoungHegelian said...: No, no, no,” she insists. “I’m trying to elucidate a bigger point, which is that we’re working in an inherently flawed system.”

NOW we see the violence inherent in the system!; 12/6/18, 12:22 PM
rehajm said...: Remember that sweater from the 70s? I certainly recall my 2nd grade teacher having that sweater.; 12/6/18, 12:22 PM
rehajm said...: Perhaps the system isn't flawed at all but you just don't like it.; 12/6/18, 12:23 PM
gahrie said...: A meta-question: Has there ever been an Althouse post with zero (0) comments?

Lots of them in the early years.; 12/6/18, 12:23 PM
Rocketeer said...: Is this as completely incoherent as it sounds?

You mean this, I presume?:

"My physical appearance, no matter how it affects others, is solely the responsibility of people around me.

Your physical appearance is solely the responsibility of others?

Yes, incoherent.; 12/6/18, 12:25 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: For some people, life is an annoying undergraduate seminar that they can't just leave, apparently.; 12/6/18, 12:28 PM
Darrell said...: Chuck's life story has been turned into a major motion picture. Some liberties were taken and they had to use an existing piece because money was tight. And no one wants to see the real Chuck or a look-a-like.

Watch here.; 12/6/18, 12:30 PM
Darrell said...: The beating she took from Johnny Depp sure took its toll.; 12/6/18, 12:31 PM
rcocean said...: The same thing applies to men, but since this about "Amber" I will talk about women.

Actresses/female Singers/models, etc.get a lot of attention because they are good at their job and look beautiful.

As a result of all the attention, they want everyone to know they're "Not just a pretty face".

Unfortunately, that's what most of them are. They're not stupid, but they're not smarter either. Probably 30 million other people as better informed or smarter.

So, we have to constantly hear their dumb-ass opinions about Life the universe and everything.; 12/6/18, 12:34 PM
Madison Mike said...: My age is showing, I'm more interested in the car.; 12/6/18, 12:35 PM
John Borell said...: "I'm pretty and I know it, so fuck off."; 12/6/18, 12:36 PM
YoungHegelian said...: There’s an implicit apology expected of me for my participation in feminine beauty..

Towards a Neoplatonic Aesthetic of Being a Hot Bitchin' Babe

by Ms Amber Heard; 12/6/18, 12:44 PM
rhhardin said...: Her breasts aren't very pointy.; 12/6/18, 12:50 PM
PM said...: Mr Borell: "I'm pretty and I know it, so fuck off."

I'm okay with the lucky gene pool. That's life. It wasn't a high IQ that launched a thousand ships.; 12/6/18, 12:56 PM
Mary H said...: Perhaps she's the reason Elon Musk went off the rails. He listened to her.; 12/6/18, 12:58 PM
Anonymous said...: rcocean: Actresses/female Singers/models, etc.get a lot of attention because they are good at their job and look beautiful.

As a result of all the attention, they want everyone to know they're "Not just a pretty face".

Unfortunately, that's what most of them are.

Thing is, they've got most of their lifetimes to be taken seriously as more than just a pretty face, because the pretty face period is fleeting. If they've really got more going for them than their looks, they'll prudently invest all the money they're making off those looks. When the looks fade, they'll still be quite young, and can then use those resources to to train for/launch whatever "take me seriously" career they choose.

(N.B.: Bitching about the sexism or unfairness of no longer being able to get parts because one has aged out of the beautiful sexy young thang category is not a "take me seriously" career path. Ditto for airhead political activism. There are plenty of real jobs out there for which even really plain or downright ugly people earn a lot of respect for performing competently!); 12/6/18, 1:06 PM
jaydub said...: This is not incoherent to those of us who share with her the burdens inherent in stunning beauty and extreme sexual attraction. It has been thus with me for almost 74 years now, but I could never find the words to express it. Thank you, Amber, for speaking for all of us who are similarly cursed with physical perfection.; 12/6/18, 1:06 PM
Fernandinande said...: O pointy breasts, o pointy pointy,
Anoint my head, anointy-nointy.; 12/6/18, 1:18 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Is this as completely incoherent as it sounds?

Yes. Yes it is.; 12/6/18, 1:23 PM
Darrell said...: Pointy birds are not happy.
Nor is England's most famous one-armed poet.; 12/6/18, 1:25 PM
Oso Negro said...: Ride that twat rocket, Amber! At 32 years, you have a few good ones left. But the future is not as big as it once was. And there are fresh girls coming up behind you.; 12/6/18, 1:33 PM
tcrosse said...: She's no Grace Kelly.; 12/6/18, 1:42 PM
rehajm said...: I get what she’s saying. I must have learned to speak Amber sonewhere...; 12/6/18, 1:44 PM
Jupiter said...: "Said Amber Heard, using her own very special form of expression, quoted at Tom & Lorenzo."

Would that be talking out her ass?; 12/6/18, 1:45 PM
California Snow said...: It seems like Heard is trying to justify 'toxic femininity'.

https://quillette.com/2018/07/09/on-toxic-femininity/; 12/6/18, 1:45 PM
Sebastian said...: "using her own very special form of expression"

No, not very special.

"My physical appearance, no matter how it affects others, is solely the responsibility of people around me."

She may be wrong, taken at face value, but she is not incoherent. The careful listener knows exactly what she is saying. Which I am, so I do, unlike the dinosaurs among the commenters.

She can come cry on my manly shoulder.; 12/6/18, 1:55 PM
Virgil Hilts said...: Re the pay disparity by gender in Hollywood. You can become a famous actress based on beauty alone - you don't necessarily have to be great at acting. But most famous male actors TODAY really have to be able to act and they often become/remain successful over decades even if they are not that beautiful. Ann would say my Avatar is an exception (and Tom Cruise might be one as well - really great looking buy maybe not 1st rate actor). The actresses who are both beautiful and incredible 1st-rate actors do see the $ (Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron). But I think Amber Heard falls within my generalization - nobody is going to pay her disproportionate money to get her for their film. There are plenty of equally beautiful actresses with mediocre acting talent, and most are probably far more articulate.; 12/6/18, 1:55 PM
YoungHegelian said...: My sexuality, my femininity, in whatever way I want to express it, is mine and my own."

"Oh, Bruunhilda, you're so wuvely"

"Yes, I know it. I can't help it."

What's Opera, Doc?; 12/6/18, 1:57 PM
gerry said...: @Rocketeer at 12:25: Your physical appearance is solely the responsibility of others?

Yes, incoherent.

Postmodernism demands that perceptions be more truthful than facts. That's why we have gender dysphoria accepted as a normal reality, for example: your biological gender matters not a whit in postmodernist reality! What you perceive, what you feel yourself to be, is a fact in the postmodern world.

Therefore, what you do to yourself regarding appearance does not matter if your perception dictates that only what others perceive or do as a result of their perceptions of your appearance is reality.

Yes, that is fucked up, but we're dealing with artistic wackos here. Who probably vote Progressive. But I repeat myself.; 12/6/18, 2:31 PM
Chaswjd said...: Obviously she randomly chooses her clothing, hair, and makeup each day without the intent of communicating anything to anyone else.; 12/6/18, 3:00 PM
SGT Ted said...: The reason female actresses get paid less than men is because beautiful women in Hollywood are a dime a dozen.; 12/6/18, 3:02 PM
Mark said...: Heard is rather meh. Although I admit that likely I would have thought her more attractive before I read her remarks.; 12/6/18, 3:11 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: OK, I admit it. It's my fault that Amber thinks she is beautiful.; 12/6/18, 3:12 PM
Mark said...: Just looked at some pics without the make-up.

She should know that there is a difference between natural beauty and (fake) cosmetic "beauty" and that those who fall within the latter should be cautious about bragging.; 12/6/18, 3:19 PM
tcrosse said...: Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful; 12/6/18, 3:24 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: She talks out of her ass? So you’re saying she does butt stuff?

Asking for a friend...; 12/6/18, 3:43 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/6/18, 3:43 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: Sorry about the double post.

Honestly though, I don’t care what she says. I wasn’t listening. But she’s a Knockout...

Uh oh, too soon?; 12/6/18, 3:45 PM
Darrell said...: Albert,
See that little trash can symbol next to the timestamp on your comment?
It only appears for your comments. Click it and you will make that comment disappear. Use that for duplicates.; 12/6/18, 4:03 PM
Rick.T. said...: Never heard of Amber. Does one have a physical appearance if there are no eyes, male or otherwise, to gaze upon it?; 12/6/18, 4:10 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: Thanks Darrell.; 12/6/18, 4:18 PM
Gospace said...: I mentioned to my 24 year old daughter just the other night that Amber Heard was the cover girl for the final print issue of Glamour magazine. Her reply? "I have no idea who that is." So I went to IMBD to see what shows we had seen her in. Zero. Between the two of us. Though we are planning on seeingAquaman. Made me wonder why I know who she is. Because she was married to my distant cousin Johnny Depp?

Nope. Solely because she routinely pops up on gossip sites. Because of her looks. One of my bad habits is perusing them.; 12/6/18, 4:21 PM
PB said...: Is she crazy?; 12/6/18, 4:33 PM
Rae said...: Isn't she the starlet that felt the back of Johnny Depp's hand?; 12/6/18, 4:40 PM
Kevin said...: "My sexuality, my MASCULINITY, in whatever way I want to express it, is mine and my own."

Nope, the reverse would never stand.; 12/6/18, 5:02 PM
jeremyabrams said...: It's yours underneath all that makeup, including the lipstick designed to make your mouth look like blood-engorged labia.; 12/6/18, 5:18 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: (didnt delve into this 'deeply' for obvious reasons)
Is she suing or being sued? Is she offended, or the offender?
Is she woke-y or sleepy? Victim, or microaggressor?
Privileged, or oppressed?
D) all of the above?; 12/6/18, 5:30 PM
narciso said...: yes, the one he did the ransom tape for, they met on the rum diaries, and well depp wasn't that stable to begin with,; 12/6/18, 6:03 PM
William said...: I grew up in wretched poverty. In later years I became modestly comfortable. I presume that's why I've been so content in these later years. Amber will have just the opposite experience. Great beauty has more currency than great wealth, but the compound interest is depreciative rather than cumulative.......I don't know what she's talking about, but if she said it to you in person, you would nod sagely and marvel at her wit. If she made such a comment after thirty more years and twenty more pounds, you would suppress a yawn and look over her shoulder to see if someone more interesting was in the room.; 12/6/18, 7:18 PM
Lee Moore said...: I was reflecting the other day that while there are undoubtedly many advantages in being a beautiful woman, and while it is always tiresome to listen to one complaining about how tough it is to be objectified and all that swaddling, in one respect it is tough.

Because females go for high status mates, and males go for young pretty mates, a beautiful woman is liable to spend a great deal of her time in the company of men who are way smarter than her (no not her co stars, though I suspect that male leads are a hair smarter than female ones on average. I'm talking about producers and investment bankers and lawyers and financiers and tech billionaires and all those men looking for a trophy wife.)

So she's constantly listening to conversations she doesn't understand, constantly being clumsily humored and flattered - which just underlines how dumb the people at parties think she is - in short she lives most of her life with a sticker on her forehead saying "Dumb as a tree". So presumably she has to develop coping mechanisms - like obscure mystic utterances that make the men around her think "Wow, she sounds really dumb. But that was so weird maybe she's just on drigs. Or crazy. But anyway she's HOT !"

For the avoidance of doubt I am not claiming to be smarter than the average actress. OK I am, but not by much. But not being a beuatiful woman I do not spend all my waking hours in the company of folk who are way smarter than me. Hence I have no hang ups about my weak intellect and sketchy education.; 12/6/18, 7:18 PM
Jaq said...: If she read more, she wouldn’t use works like “explicate” so clumsily. People confident of their looks don’t go fishing for compliments, generally, and people confident of their brains don’t spend time worrying whether other people think they are smart.

Beautiful women are humored from before puberty, so they are at an unfair disadvantage, I guess.; 12/6/18, 7:55 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Unlike others here, I do understand what she means. Even though some interpretation is needed, re literalism.

Just as so many here use interpretation re DJT, I do so re this gal.

But, unlike the DJT apologists, I need a reason to believe the best. Like giving your divorce dough away to charities.

IMHO.; 12/6/18, 8:01 PM
Seeing Red said...: Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.; 12/6/18, 8:08 PM
mandrewa said...: Great comment, Lee Moore. I'm sure you're right.; 12/6/18, 8:46 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Lots a folks here who may think that they're smarter than this gal who did way more than they ever did, w/ (likely) less.

Would make ya think. You'd think. If you were into that sorta thing-y. I.e., thinkin'. What does that say re the mirror?

IMHO.; 12/6/18, 9:06 PM
stephen cooper said...: anti-de-Sitter-Space :

DJT is, for most purposes, nothing to you or to me (I am assuming you and DJT are not personal friends) because for you and me he is just a politician, and nobody lives a good life focused on politics.

What is Hecuba to me, or Hecuba to her? (a quote from Hamlet)

On the other hand, millions and billions of men want to understand beautiful women.
So what a beautiful woman thinks about beauty is important (I disagree with Mark, Amber Heard is very attractive with or without makeup) ....

And what she said is this ----

if I am beautiful by chance,
that beauty was not meant for me.
Nobody deserves our own beauty
(unless we are virtuous, and even then ....)
and certainly nobody deserves to enjoy the beauty of others
without striving to be beautiful themselves/

Look, I know people (and the random AI or two, this is not just 2018 but it is 2028 too, and so on) sees "Stephen Cooper" wrote a comment, and might think, I do not need to pay attention to this ....

but if you do choose to pay attention ....

in my humble opinion, there is only one way to participate in the good things of life in a way that does not leave a bad aftertaste

(Lee Moore, you are right, but I have never once spent an hour with someone obviously smarter than me, and trust me, being almost always not only as smart as but almost always smarter than everybody in the room for decade after decade, as I have been, is nothing compared to caring about other people - not "Family first" like poor old Bush, not "just the hotties" like the poor old Clintons, and so on, just to limit our comparisons to old or recently deceased Presidents ..., but really caring, or, of course, or, since it is not possible for fallible people like me to care as much as we should, at least imagining we care, remembering that everyone had beautiful moments in their lives, years before that moment we first met them) ....

in my humble opinion, there is only one way to participate in the good things of life that does not leave a bad aftertaste, and that is ---- stay sober, stay strong, stay kind and protect the weak as much as you can, and remember that Everybody who does good things for you or who tries to do bad things to you (for those who do bad things to you, protect yourself and your loved ones, but pray for them) .... Everybody, good or bad, needs our prayers, and Everybody, good or bad, will some day either thank us (For those prayers), which is good, or will not (which is out of our control, sometimes, sad!, but true - this is not a perfect world)

humbly pray to God that he treats them all, all these people that we think of as "Everybody we have met" "in our finite lives" as a friend and that one day all your friends and enemies will realize that the best thing for them is to want God to treat them as a friend, and to have them treat God as a friend, we all have the potential to be fantastically wonderful in the sight of God

Remember God is a person, Finite in number, and so are we (I added that last comment for the mathematicians who read my comments, I am always thinking of you, my friends) - there are a finite number of humans, and God loves them all without limit; 12/6/18, 9:27 PM
mandrewa said...: This is the part that seems dumb, not the part that Ann Althouse quoted, which is actually kind of intriguing, but this:

On wage disparity: “We get paid less as women, and we end up spending more time on set, because of hair and makeup demands,” she says. Was she not equitably compensated for Aquaman? “No, no, no,” she insists. “I’m trying to elucidate a bigger point, which is that we’re working in an inherently flawed system.”

So you get that? Actresses should be paid more because they have to spend more time on hair and makeup than actors do. And note that this her choice for evidence of "an inherently flawed system."

And at the same time she uses a word like 'elucidate.' Which gives away that she wants to be perceived as very intelligent.

Anyways Lee Moore nailed it. Amber Heard is practically telling us that something like that is going on for her.; 12/6/18, 10:06 PM
mandrewa said...: But at least Amber Heard is speaking in her own voice. From these two examples, at least she's putting herself into what she says.

And in my book you have to give a person a lot of credit for that.

Too many people are afraid to say the wrong thing.; 12/6/18, 10:14 PM
William said...: She's better at being beautiful than I was at all the things I did to make my living.; 12/6/18, 10:36 PM
Sprezzatura said...: Steve,

It's nice that yur stickin' w/ yur supposed moralizing and supposed Godly POV re taking sides re a self-made from nutin' gal who gave her divorce dough to charities v a porn star nutin', gross and unvenial man who tit sucked hundreds of mil from his dad (not to mention that (net) from mid-class 'Muricans re realative tax rates and gov subsidies).

You've made your choice. The big guy upstairs knows. And, according to you, will make the final judgement re who burns in hell for eternity.

Just sayin'; 12/6/18, 11:42 PM
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stephen cooper said...: anti de Sitter Space ---

God loves us all, and spends a near infinite time with each of us, discussing how we want to spend eternity.

You are smart, and you do not need me to present the Bible verses which contradict your version of me as someone who just is fine with a God who moralizes and judges without

trying to understand, without waiting to see if we might do everything we can to make each other see

God loves us.

I do not hate Sin because I have some ideological conservative horror of decadence,
I hate Sin because I like people, and want them to enjoy life.

I love goodness because I have seen it, and I know everybody wants to see it.; 12/7/18, 8:48 PM