Comedian’s Response to Criticism of Her Red Carpet Look Deserves a Standing Ovation - PolicyMic
▻http://www.policymic.com/articles/89501/comedian-s-response-to-criticism-of-her-red-carpet-look-deserves-a-standi
A funny thing happens when female celebrities hit the red carpet: The world tends to forget that they are actual human beings, with feelings and everything.
Such a fate befell comedian Sarah Millican at last year’s BAFTA Awards, when the Internet viciously attacked her red carpet look for being “disastrous” and “nana”-like. At first, the cruel commentary stung. But rather than stew in silence, Millican has decided to call out her haters in a brilliant essay for Radio Times that pinpoints the absurdity of a woman, yet again, being attacked for her appearance at an event meant to celebrate her completely unrelated accomplishments.
In the essay, Millican repeatedly emphasizes that she is a comedian. As in, she makes jokes for a living — a profession that has nothing to do with what she looks like on the red carpet:
“I’m not a model (I’m a comedian), have never learnt how to pose on a red carpet (I’m a comedian) and I have pretty low self-esteem.”
She also comments on how she found her John Lewis dress:
“Fancy expensive designer shops are out for me as I’m a size 18, sometimes 20, and I therefore do not count as a woman to them.”
While the messages Millican received hurt ...
“It was like a pin to my excitable red balloon. Literally thousands of messages from people criticising my appearance. I was fat and ugly as per usual. ... I cried. I cried in the car.”
That hurt quickly turned to righteous anger:
“Why does it matter so much what I was wearing? ... I felt wonderful in that dress. And surely that’s all that counts.”