In a recent video shared to Instagram, 21-year-old actress Millie Bobby Brown has criticised press articles dissecting her appearance, saying of the coverage: “This isn’t journalism. This is bullying.” The actress calls out several headlines that scrutinise her face, hair and body, with many fixating on claims that she looks older than her age.  

“These articles aren’t just invasive,” Brown says. “They’re disturbing.” The actress, who started in the industry at 10 years old, says she has become a target simply for growing up in the public eye. “I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason, people can’t seem to grow with me. Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things season one.”  

The discourse surrounding young people appearing older than their years has been ongoing, with theories attributing this phenomenon to factors such as vaping, the use of potent skincare ingredients like retinol, and cosmetic procedures including ‘baby Botox’ and fillers. However, in a Dazed article last year, Professor Meredith Jones, a cultural theorist at Brunel University London, refuted these claims, stating, “That’s biologically implausible.” She further elaborated that the perception of accelerated ageing is more likely a result of societal anxieties and the pressures amplified by social media culture, rather than any actual physiological changes.

What Brown is really calling into question is a larger issue of how women’s bodies are discussed and dissected by the wider public and press. “I want to take a moment to address something that I think is bigger than just me, something that affects every young woman who grows up under public scrutiny.” She says of the hypocrisy of a media landscape. “We always talk about supporting and uplifting young women, but when the time comes, it seems easier to tear them down for clicks.” A betrayal that Brown says is especially worse when written by women themselves.  

Brown isn’t the first to speak out against the media’s fixation on women’s appearances. Celebrities including Khloé Kardashian and Billie Eilish have publicly criticised the fixation placed on women’s appearances. Ariana Grande has been the focus of discourse around her weight loss, while Taylor Lautner recently spoke out about body-shaming comments directed at Selena Gomez. “It’s a cruel world full of hate out there. You can never please everyone nor should you have to,” he wrote on Instagram. 

In an article exploring whether it’s ever ok to comment about people’s bodies, Ashley Ray said that celebrities “offer an almost guilt-free way to judge the bodies around us,” which is an activity our society is “obsessed with”. However, Brown’s statement urges a shift away from this judgement towards greater empathy. Her final message: “Let’s do better. Not just for me, but for every young girl who deserves to grow up without fear of being torn apart for simply existing.”