If Jonah Hill's career was a vinyl record, each side would play a very different type of music.
The A side would be the greatest hits of his career, from a break-out gig in the iconic comedy Superbad to starring roles in Get Him to the Greek and 21 Jump Street. All the way to more dramatic fare such as Moneyball and The Wolf of Wall Street , both of which earned him Academy Award nominations.
The B side, on the other hand, would offer up a very different tune. One where the actor's body is publicly mocked and shamed over the course of decades. His weight derided and questions like 'what's it like to be the fat guy?' thrown out during his many press tours.
“I became famous in my late teens and then spent most of my young adult life listening to people say that I was fat and gross and unattractive,” The 37-year-old actor once said during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, when talking about how his body was described in the world of entertainment and media.
In a now-viral 2014 interview clip, Jonah was asked if he was still considered 'the fat guy' in Hollywood circles, a question he refused to answer.
The list of female stars who have been publicly and brutally shamed for their weight over the years, and who have lost work because of it, could fill enough books to overwhelm a library.
Kelly Clarkson, Adele, Kate Winslet, Demi Lovato, Mindy Kaling, Christina Hendricks, Kelly Osbourne, Amy Schumer, Ashley Graham and Jessica Simpson, just to name a few.
In addition to this, it's only in recent years that women who identify as plus-size have been given the chance to headline big studio movies, with Melissa McCarthy being the name at the top I(and one of the only) of this field.
One of the highest-earning stars in the world, the actress has spoken honestly in the past about growing up not seeing women like herself on-screen and how comments around her body negatively affected her career.
"I just find it dumb and boring. I really do," she said to AARP. "No one’s asking a man, how do you keep your legs in shape? Which I’ve been asked. I think every time we categorize people — by weight, by race, by gender — we put them in boxes and it’s not a good thing for the world."
"The letters I really love are from young actresses who were worried they had to fit a certain look. They say I've opened it up. And I don't just mean plus-size girls," she told Us Weekly."I know I am not the 'norm.'"
In another display of discrepancy when it comes to how men and women's bodies are treated in the public eye, while men can be shamed for gaining weight their bodies are never concentrated on to such an extreme effect that when they lose weight they are derided for giving into pressure and 'letting the team down'.
A fate women in the public such as Rebel Wilson and Adele have experience at an extreme level in recent years.
In this case, two ideas can be true at the same time.
It's true that when it comes to body shaming both in pop culture and in the real world, women have been given a much harder path to navigate.
It's also true that the shaming and ridicule surrounding men's bodies is a dangerous concern that requires both action and conversation, a topic that should be allowed to stand on its own and will require a different plan of attack.
There's no denying that Jonah Hill's words have ignited an important conversation and hopefully the people who read them now feel less alone
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