Let’s talk about a social phenomenon we’ve all experienced, the inappropriate question. You know, those moments when someone, be it a well-meaning relative, a nosy coworker, or a stranger with zero self-awareness, blurts out something so wildly personal that you have to pretend your phone just rang so you can escape.
Society has always had an issue with minding its own business, but it seems we’re slowly learning. And thank goodness, because, for years, female actors had to smile politely while fielding ridiculous questions that had absolutely nothing to do with their talent.
Fortunately, times have changed, and people are finally realizing that asking a successful actress about her dress size is about as appropriate as bringing up your cousin’s failed pyramid scheme at Thanksgiving dinner.
Hollywood’s long-overdue etiquette upgrade
For decades, Hollywood interviews felt like a bizarre game of 20 Questions, except 19 of those questions were about a woman’s body. If you were a male actor, you got to talk about your craft, your inspirations, and that one time you did all your own stunts. But if you were a woman, the burning questions were more along the lines of, what’s your diet? How do you stay in shape? Do you know your measurements by heart?
Things hit a peak absurdity level in the early 2000s when red carpet interviews became less about an actor’s performance and more about who they were wearing and how they managed to fit into it. If you had the audacity to be a woman in Hollywood, it was expected that you’d stand there, smiling, while journalists conducted impromptu investigations into your waistline.
But, ladies and gentlemen, we have progress! These days, actors are pushing back, reporters are being somewhat more thoughtful, and the collective groan of actresses being asked about their workout routines has been heard around the world. Thank you, feminism.
Christina Hendricks’ joy of not answering dumb questions
Few actors know the struggle of ridiculous interview questions better than Christina Hendricks. As Joan Holloway on Mad Men, she played one of the most confident, complex, and stylish characters on television. But did people want to talk to her about Joan’s power moves? Her impeccable comedic timing? The nuances of playing a working woman in the 1960s? Nope.
Instead, she was constantly fielding questions about her body, how she dressed it, how she maintained it, and how she felt about it. While her male co-stars got to chat about their craft, she was stuck answering the same redundant inquiries about her curves.
Thankfully, those days are mostly behind her. Hendricks has spoken about how much things have changed and how relieved she is that people have finally learned to keep their focus on the work, not the waistline. She told Deadline,
I think people have learned a little bit of manners now and know you don’t ask about physicality and bodies straight up when you have never met them. It’s really none of their business. I think there has been a big change since then.
Now, she gets to talk about her roles, her career, and the projects that excite her, without having to dodge yet another question about her measurements. And if anyone does slip up and ask something wildly inappropriate? Well, let’s just say she has the perfect withering stare to shut it down.
Stream Mad Men on AMC.
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