“I think all women in Hollywood are known as sex symbols. That’s what our purpose is in this business. You’re merchandised, you’re a product. You’re sold and it’s based on sex. But that’s okay. I think women should be empowered by that, not degraded.” – Megan Fox
Yeah, the only way that quote is an empowering statement, is if you look like Megan Fox! All women in Hollywood are not sex symbols. There are plenty of actresses chosen for not looking beautiful, to play other supporting roles. Whatever she’s selling, I’m not buying it.
Many of her observations are probably true. Women are merchandized in films; women are products. They are sold and it’s based on sex. We all know how much gratuitous nudity and sex scenes there are in movies. Older actresses don’t seem to be as in-demand as younger ones, either. I have never been to Hollywood, so I can only assume that what she says is based on plenty of experience.
But how is that okay? Both men and women are created in the image of God. Megan Fox assumes that her value is determined by what she looks like. This is a trap that many women fall into. I used to believe that my value was determined by what I looked like, how stylishly I was dressed, or who I was dating. It’s only after getting a little older and realizing that my heart is really what matters, that I’ve been at peace with aging. I’ll never be the cutest one in the room! By coming to this realization, I have been able to not feel like a carton of eggs, whose expiration date is rapidly approaching.
I believe that sticking a price tag on a woman’s beauty is degrading under most circumstances. Modeling and acting aren’t bad in and of themselves, but there is always that potential for this “butcher shop mentality” to prevail. Just because Megan Fox is happy to be sold like a piece of meat, doesn’t mean that we should continue to allow women to be sold so cheaply. The empowering option is to know that your value is incalculably higher than any price tag could ever convey. Each of us has been bought with the blood of Jesus! So any kind of buying and selling of human flesh seems pretty much demonic to me.
Megan has also blurred the lines between different kinds of “acting.” I imagine that porn actresses justify their professions with similar statements. They are empowered by being businesswomen, marketing geniuses (but the products they are marketing are their own bodies).
If women are sold and it’s based on sex, when they cease to be commercially sexy, they cease to have value, in the eyes of the consumer. Megan Fox is unwittingly authorizing people to write her off as being unmarketable after she ceases being a beautiful young woman. It’s one thing to be aware of the way things are in Hollywood and learn to play the game. I give her credit for the way she called out the film business for what it is. But I would love to hear her say something that was actually empowering to younger women. Something suggesting that even after her salary starts to decline along with her body, she will still be secure as a woman. Her identity as wife and mother are more empowering than her profession.
I am reminded of Proverbs 31:30: “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” None of us will be externally beautiful for very long. Most of us will never even realize how beautiful we actually are. At my lowest point, I used to look in the mirror and cry, asking, “God, why couldn’t you have just made me pretty?” He had! It was my heart that needed changing, so I could finally know my value and my beauty. We were bought at a price, but not mere thousands of dollars, like whatever salary a Hollywood actress earns. You are worth so much more than that.
You are not just another pretty face, and neither is Megan Fox.