"In journalism, headlines are the name of the game. They’re the first thing readers see and often determine whether they click, so they need to be attention-grabbing. Maybe it’s a juicy bit of celebrity gossip or a life-changing hack, but what they shouldn’t be are attacks on women’s appearances for the sake of traffic. That’s exactly what Millie Bobby Brown has endured for years, and now she’s calling out the journalists responsible by name. And she should because, as we’ve seen time and time again, the only way for a woman to be heard (especially in Hollywood) is to take matters into her own hands.
panic packing? I don't know her.
On her latest press tour, Millie has been the target of harsh headlines like “What has Millie Bobby Brown done to her face?” and “Millie Bobby Brown mistaken for someone’s mom as she guides younger sister Ava through LA,” criticizing her for aging at the ripe age of 21. She’s an incredibly talented actress and businesswoman, yet every headline fixates on her appearance, specifically how she’s supposedly aging “horribly.”
Ironically, just days after The Substance—a horror film about an aging actress who injects herself with a shot that creates a younger, hotter version of herself—was celebrated at the 97th Academy Awards, Millie had to take to Instagram to plead with the media to stop attacking her looks and let her grow up. “I refuse to make myself smaller to fit the unrealistic expectations of people who can’t handle seeing a girl become a woman,” she wrote. Women can’t age in Hollywood, not even in their 20s. The same publications that once praised them toss them aside the second they no longer fit the unattainable, ever-changing mold Hollywood demands women rearrange themselves to fit. This isn’t new, but the fact that it’s still happening in 2025 is ridiculous.
We can look back at how the media treated stars like Britney Spears and Anna-Nicole Smith in the early 2000s and be horrified—but somehow, we don’t recognize it when it’s happening in real time. Despite being all about “girls’ girls” and “women supporting women,” we still tolerate these attacks. Just recently, Lindsay Lohan made headlines for her “glow-up,” with the internet celebrating how much “better” she looks. Sure, it’s technically a compliment, but the way we casually dissect women’s appearances, positive or negative, is unsettling. “This isn’t journalism. This is bullying,” Millie said of the headlines about her. “The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, my choices, it’s disturbing.”
“I refuse to make myself smaller to fit the unrealistic expectations of people who can’t handle seeing a girl become a woman.”
—Millie Bobby Brown
Maybe because we watched Millie grow up, people feel entitled to comment on her looks. But her male Stranger Things co-stars are allowed to age and change without their every move becoming a headline. The parasocial relationships the media and fans create with celebrities aren’t real, yet they erase the actual person behind the scrutiny. You don’t know these people. You don’t have a claim to their decisions. And while decades have passed since TMZ ridiculed Britney for shaving her head, the media is still treating young women and their bodies as nothing more than clickbait. The media doesn’t see women as people but instead as traffic drivers. These stories don’t just harm celebrities—they harms women as a whole. Millie made her video “not just for me but for every young girl who deserves to grow up without fear of being torn apart for simply existing.”
I remember the gossipy moms in high school who would gossip about teenage girls’ outfits and bodies—I’ll never forget an ex-friend’s mom saying a classmate needed a nose job when we were literally 15. I felt the pressure then, just within my school community, knowing adults were judging our every move. Now think of that on a global scale, where those comments aren’t whispered at book club but published in The Daily Mail. It’s unimaginable.
“The fact that we’ve reverted to an era where it’s perfectly acceptable to tear apart women’s bodies in the media—at the same time those bodies are having their rights stripped away in the government—isn’t a coincidence.”
Some might say these are just words and that a few catty headlines don’t reveal a larger truth about how society views women. But the media actively shapes the conversations we have in our lives, often amplifying existing narratives. Entertainment journalism absolutely has a place, but just because it covers “lighter” topics doesn’t mean it can’t cause real harm. We should question why specific stories are written, who benefits from them, and what they say about greater trends in the world. The fact that we’ve reverted to an era where it’s perfectly acceptable to tear apart women’s bodies in the media—at the same time those bodies are having their rights stripped away in the government—isn’t a coincidence.
When the media normalizes commenting on women’s bodies, it reinforces that everyone else can, too. Whether we realize it or not, we are shaped by the content we consume. And Millie was 100% right to call out these journalists by first and last name. She did so respectfully, making a valid criticism, unlike those same writers, who had no problem plastering her name across their headlines.
So, next time you see a headline like this, don’t give it the click it desperately wants. Instead, use those 30 seconds you would spend scrolling to think about its impact on women. Because if we don’t push back, nothing will change.
Lauren Blue, Assistant Editor
As an Assistant Editor for The Everygirl, Lauren ideates and writes content for every facet of our readers’ lives. Her articles span the topics of must-read books, movies, home tours, travel itineraries—and everything in between. When she isn’t testing the latest TikTok trend, she can be found scouring Goodreads for new releases to feature on the site.