This week I’m dialing it back a little bit. Instead of offering analysis of something that bothers me, I’d like to take a moment to discuss something I’m really pleased about. That is, in honor of the Oscars, I’d like to use this article as a celebration of the group of truly rad female role models my generation has to look up to.
I’ll start with the most predictable celebrity—nay, the most necessary—I could choose. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Jennifer Lawrence. It took me longer to jump on this particular bandwagon than most of my friends, but the 22-year-old two-time Oscar nominee and recent Best Actress winner captured my heart through an absurd number of unattractive faces made into .GIF form, awkward awards acceptance speeches and a heap of hysterical interview faux-pas.
She’s human, and there is something more beautiful in that than in any of the designer gowns she dons as a contingency of her Dior contract.
What I find, daresay, even more refreshing than the aforementioned laundry list are J-Law’s unabashed food cravings. Never before have I seen an actress on awards night more concerned with the placement of the hors d’oeuvres than the competition and couture. It’s nice to see a young, beautiful, talented actress that fans universally appear to find relatable discussing eating instead of dieting.
I’m all for healthy living, and as a vegan I’d like to say I’ve truly grown to appreciate the many wonders of the vegetable. But there’s something incredibly endearing about J-Law’s proclamation that “nothing makes [her] feel better than junk food and reality TV,” or that her plans for the day extended to “[eating] French fries and [laying] in bed until three.” It’s almost like she’s one of us.
Let us also not forget Adele, for there is a classy way to write an album about breakups and it’s not the method chosen by Taylor Swift. While her songs make for wonderful soundtracks to wallowing, her antics during interviews are anything but prim, proper and depressing.
The witch-like cackle alone is enough to crack a smile onto even the most stoic listener’s face, and the frequency with which she emits it is even better. Further reason to accept the British songstress’s superiority? She, too, is a fan of Jennifer Lawrence, as evident by the trailing end of her post-Oscar press for Best Original Song with “Skyfall”—“Jennifer Lawrence just won Best Actress!”
Outspoken, funny, talented women in Hollywood are earning a long overdue spotlight. To stray from the Oscar theme, I think we can all agree that Anna Kendrick’s twitter feed marks her as a gem of modern humor, with jokes ranging from tastefully tacky remarks about masturbating to Ryan Gosling films, (okay, perhaps not “tasteful,” but come on guys, it’s Ryan Gosling) to the internal struggle that sprouts from not being able to pet service dogs, to musings about the messy rooms so often found in the background of nudie pics.
These women are strong, beautiful and absolutely hilarious in their own right. They are classy and elegant, yet they remain relatable and genuinely likable through a level of humor and imperfection that you don’t often see in female role models. These are not your mother’s celebrities—but damn, they’re great.