A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons, prompted the author to write this article about the constant scrutiny of the appearance of actresses. Commentary about the appearance of an actress is second nature to society and has been going on since the very first actress Nell Gwyn, during the restoration. I think that this is part of the problem. Many critics spend half as much time assessing an actress’ appearance as they do her acting abilities and society rarely notices. Usually the only place something like this is even discussed is in a sociology class. If it’s not recognized, how can it change? I think it needs to be recognized that our culture objectifies actresses and only leads our culture to an even greater emphasis on appearance rather than substance.
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