Florence Pugh has had enough with people commenting on women’s bodies ― including her own.
The “Oppenheimer” actor opened up to Elle about the backlash she endured when she wore a sheer, Valentino dress last year, and how the criticism affected her.
“I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself,” Pugh said in the interview, which was conducted by her friend and fellow actor, Jodie Turner-Smith.
“When everything went down with the Valentino pink dress a year ago, my nipples were on display through a piece of fabric, and it really wound people up,” Pugh explained. “It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy.”
“Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time,” the “Midsommar” entertainer stated. “I think we’re in this swing now where lots of people are saying, ‘I don’t give a shit.’ Unfortunately, we’ve become so terrified of the human body that we can’t even look at my two little cute nipples behind fabric in a way that isn’t sexual.”
“We need to keep reminding everybody that there is more than one reason for women’s bodies [to exist],” she added. “I speak the way I do about my body because I’m not trying to hide the cellulite on my thigh or the squidge in between my arm and my boob: I would much rather lay it all out.”
Pugh addressed the commentary surrounding her sheer dress immediately after she wore the gown to Valentino’s haute couture show in Rome last July.
“What’s been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see,” she said, noting that many of the critics included their “job titles and work emails” on their social media accounts.
“It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time a woman will hear what’s wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be,” she said.
Pugh was unfettered by any of the backlash, as she has continued to rock see-through looks in the months following the social media storm.