Scarlett Johansson is opening up about the judgement and scrutiny she faced as a pregnant actress in the public eye.
In her profile interview with Vanity Fair, the Black Widow star spoke about how she’s always been “hyper-aware” of how women in Hollywood are always put under a microscope, especially when they are with child, and addressed how damaging that can all be.
The mom of two said:
“I’ve been so protective of both pregnancies, not wanting to feel scrutinized in the public eye. I wanted to be able to have my own feelings about my changing body without other people also telling me how they saw me, whether it was positive or negative.”
Scarlett welcomed son Cosmo in August 2021 with husband Colin Jost. She has a seven-year-old daughter, Rose, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.
She shared that when she was pregnant with Cosmo last year, she realized just “how much stuff people put on you when you’re pregnant.” She elaborated:
“Their hopes of their judgment or their desire, a lot of that is put on pregnant women. I would have a lot of people saying things to me immediately, like, ‘How great, oh my God, that’s wonderful.’ And while I was definitely excited to be pregnant in some ways, I also had a lot of not-great feelings about it.
And that would be scrutinized by — I’m talking about, like, women that were close to me. You expect it from men, but from women, it’s like, ‘Come on, girl, you’ve been through it.’ One friend, when I told her that I was pregnant — she knew I was trying to get pregnant — she was just like, ‘Oh s**t. Great, but not great.’
And I was like, ‘You’re a true friend.’”
Scarlett went on to say that while many things have moved forward when it comes to women’s empowerment, attitude towards pregnancies remain the same:
“I feel like a lot of things have moved forward in the past five years in terms of women’s empowerment, but that thing remains sort of in the Dark Ages.
So much judgment, it’s crazy.”
