Florence Pugh is tired of her body and fashion creating discourse
"It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy," the Oppenheimer actor said
Aux News Pugh
Florence Pugh has sparked fervent discourse over her fashion choices multiple times, most recently when she wore a sheer purple Valentino dress to Paris Fashion Week earlier this summer. Last year, the Oppenheimer star went viral for wearing a similar hot pink gown to a Valentino show in Rome. But while Pugh is no stranger to sending a message, she’d really prefer if her looks weren’t seen as so much of a statement in the first place.
Speaking to White Noise actor Jodie Turner-Smith for Elle’s Style Awards, Pugh addressed the same detractors she previously called out (in response to the original Valentino dress) for being willing to “totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see… [even] with your job titles and work emails in your bio.”
“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 said. “I think the scariest thing for me are the instances where people have been upset that I’ve shown ‘too much’ of myself. When everything went down with the Valentino pink dress a year ago, my nipples were on display through a piece of fabric, and it wound people up.” (In her Instagram response last year, Pugh addressed this blowback by saying “What’s more concerning is…. Why are you so scared of breasts? Small? Large? Left? Right? Only one? Maybe none? What. Is. So. Terrifying.”)
“It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy,” Pugh continued in the Elle interview. “Keeping women down by commenting on their bodies has worked for a very long time. 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].”
In the actor’s own words, “#fuckingfreethefuckingnipple.”
133 Comments
Nobody:Florence Pugh: a lot of people are triggered by my outfits
and in what world did she think showing that much nipple would not get a reaction? She has the right to dress however she wants, but she can’t not expect a reaction.
I am kinda triggered by this one:https://wwd.com/pop-culture/celebrity-news/florence-pugh-oppenheimer-photocall-london-moschino-1235741118/
RDJ looks like a sleazeball night club manager
Can I get a Florence Pugh trigger warning, please?
I was prepared to roll my eyes at this, but at the end of the day she has a point. In the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty three we should not still be getting so concerned about women’s nipples showing.
I’m with you, I think there are some pretty serious hang-ups going around, but I think it’s a little more complicated than that. We’ve got these big contradictory parallel arguments, where on one hand, if a woman wants to sell pictures of her breasts/nipples on OnlyFans, then it’s cool and empowering, and if a woman feels like showing them outside of that, then breasts/nipples are just a common, totally non-special feature, basically like an elbow, and it’s ridiculous to think that anyone should care about it, but on the other hand, if a woman isn’t willing and enthusiastic about showing them, seeing them is a monstrous crime and a horrible violation, we feel aghast and she’s crushed. Maybe I’m naive and optimistic, but I do think that there’s a healthier middle ground somewhere, where we can say that breasts are sexual and special, but that it’s okay to be sexy. I think there’s a tendency to deal with these hang-ups by pretending that we aren’t doing what we’re doing. You can’t have nudity without justifications as to why it’s okay, or by arguing that it isn’t what it seems obviously to be.
“if a woman wants to sell pictures of her breasts/nipples on OnlyFans, then it’s cool and empowering”I don’t know anyone who says that. lol I’m not saying no one does, just that I’m not sure that’s the prevailing attitude about women who show their breasts on OF.“and if a woman feels like showing them outside of that, …., we feel aghast and she’s crushed.”
And all of this, this whole paragraph….I mean that’s just what consent means? If a man never wanted anyone to see his nipples and took efforts to keep them covered, it would be equally violative for someone to take sneaky shots of him shirtless and show them around, and we should be aghast and he could be crushed about that. If you don’t want to show something, you shouldn’t have to show something. But if you do want to show something, that shouldn’t be accompanied by a bunch of criticism or sexualization.
“that breasts are sexual and special”That’s not the only or even the most important thing that breasts are, though. This is the problem. I’m not saying you can’t have sexual feelings about breasts—who doesnt?—but the problem is seeing them primarily that way such that women can’t show them without everyone having an opinion about it. People have sexual feelings about legs and shoulders too, but we also acknowledge that sexiness isn’t the primary use or feature of legs and shoulders. The takeaway shouldn’t be “it’s okay to be sexy.” It should be “you can show your breasts without being sexualized.” “It’s okay to be sexy with your sexy and special breasts” is why so many women feel the need to cover up when feeding their babies.
“but I do think that there’s a healthier middle ground somewhere, where we can say that breasts are sexual and special”It’s called the privacy of your own home. For the rest of us, it’s just a pair of nipples.
every point you’re making is obliterated by the concurrent success of open toed shoes and foot porn.
Healthy human sexuality is about context and consent. When a woman consents to her body being sexualized, then it’s OK to sexualize it. When she does not, it isn’t. The context is also important. A woman breastfeeding is an entirely different context than Only Fans and it’s important to know the difference.
It kind of has to do with the intended audience in that case, doesn’t it? People who visit OF go there for sexual engagement (I assume). They are sexualizing every part of a woman. Pugh is saying “this is natural, normal and I’m not hiding it.” I don’t sexualize women’s bodies so I guess I don’t see that in her wardrobe. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find some kind of middle ground in this country? We seem to be a nation of extremists, especially in the last decade. Americans don’t seem to like subtlety.
…I don’t at all get the impression she’s tired of people talking about it. If anything, it sounds like she’s very intent that people talk about her fashion and ask themselves why it is all that big of a deal. She doesn’t seem dismissive or tired of that conversation at all, and more power to her.
I only ever hear about this stuff through her.
On the one hand, good for you for avoiding the parts of the internet where men talk shit about women for every tiny little ‘mistake’ they make.On the other hand, just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Pretty much guaranteed it’s women. Also, “They hate us for our freedom.”
Men? You do know that a recent study found that about 50% of misogynistic Tweets were from women?
He has ants in his eyes most of the time so he doesn’t see much.
Like that Chinese wall I keep hearing about.
Does it also exist in the parts of the internet where women talk shit about women for every tiny little ‘mistake’ they make? Just checking since I didn’t see Florence Pugh making these audience distinctions.
and The A.V.Club!
The little girl from Kick Ass is all grown-up, and strangely, she’s developed a British accent.
Someone stop her before she goes full Madonna!
Am I missing something? Chloe Grace Moretz was in Kick Ass, not Florence Pugh.
Yes.
Are you saying we’ve been commenting on Chloe Grace Moretz’ body and fashion all this time??
So which darling was I actually trying not to worry about?
Well, damn. Carry on, then.
Well, I know what I’m dreaming tonight.
I would eat breakfast food with her
There’s another video where she makes bruschetta, which my Italian heritage deeply appreciated.
Bruschetta? I just met ’er!
I got dibs on 2nd Breakfast with her.
…. I’ve got no complaints about her body!
Oppenheimer sure liked dem pretty titties.
sweater bombs
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. Now show me dem titties!”
People do all sorts of stupid shit and justify it by “being comfortable in my own mind/body.” Wearing a see-through dress is not a personal comfort thing – it’s a provocateur action, like Sacha Baron Cohen wearing that neon green mankini was.I don’t care if women want to go braless or men want to go commando or whatever else… until they make it personal by walking up to me and giving me no option but to see it. The fact that I am not especially interested in seeing Florence Pugh’s nipple in the normal course of my day doesn’t make me anti-woman or anti-nipple, any more than not wanting to see my neighbor’s ball sack hanging out of his shorts while he mows the lawn. I also think people should hold in their farts in a restaurant or at least go blow them out in the john rather than letting fly at the table.Be who you want to be, just have a baseline level of common courtesy.
Why does someone’s nipple affect you so much? It’s a body part, not someone threatening you with a gun.
I feel the same way about trans rights as I do about concealed carry; I don’t care what you’re packing as long as you don’t take it out and point it at me.
nice
Dare I say that’s not really a fair comparison, considering in the US at least there’s more chance of having a gun pointed at you than a trans person pointing their naked genitals at you.
This has nothing to do with trans rights.
So’s my anus, but I don’t see you begging for a closeup look at it.
I could point you in that direction, if that’s what you’re looking for.
I won’t lie, I’m actually kinda curious to see if you’d recommend a proctologist or someone a bit more, shall we say, kinky.Or, best of both worlds, a kinky proctologist!
It’s got to take a certain sort to voluntarily go into that line of work.
Probably because we have societal standards that specifically outline public nudity as not a norm
That’s a lot of words to put towards expressing one’s purported apathy.
It is not apathy. It is him being tired of famous people whose entire careers revolve around “look at me” bitching about people looking at them. “I dress to attract attention, and how dare you comment on the kind of attention that I attract! I only want to attract the right kind of attention from the right kind of people! Is that too much to ask?”
Yes, it is.
It’s weird comparing women’s nipples to men’s ball sacks when men also have nipples. Though at least with your comparison you don’t need to explain just how they’re different in a way that doesn’t involved centuries of puritanical religion.
Tell you what – let’s send a few guys and gals shirtless (and hell, pantsless!) to work and make sure they’re harping about “centuries of puritanical religion,” and I’m sure that will really contribute a lot to the discourse.
You sound retarded.
Interesting word choice.
“Let’s do something stupid in the stupidest place to do it, and that somehow proves my point”.
Holy shit you’ve got nipples too?
Though at least with your comparison you don’t need to explain just how they’re different in a way that doesn’t involved centuries of puritanical religion.Or millions of years of mammalian evolution. On one sex nipples are functional. On the other they are not.(This isn’t hard to figure out. Unless you’re a modern progressive.)
don’t sell your neighbor’s ballsack short
Nothing short about it, sadly.
until they make it personal by walking up to me and giving me no option but to see it
I hate when Florence Pugh kicks down my door and chases me around until I have no choice but to look at her nipples.
For God’s sake Florence, I’m just trying to make dinner here
Get your nipples out of my soup!
I don’t!
Say goodbye to these Michael!
I’ve moved three times now, but Florence always finds my new address and starts the whole thing over.
Don’t Worry, lickfoot
might be worth the new door.
It’s not creating discourse, it’s only pointing our her desperate need for attention. This is her thing, now. Typical juvenile stuff.
“The fact that I am not especially interested in seeing Florence Pugh’s nipple in the normal course of my day doesn’t make me anti-woman or anti-nipple, any more than not wanting to see my neighbor’s ball sack hanging out of his shorts while he mows the lawn.”An in drawing an equivalence between Pugh’s breasts and your neighbor’s exposed ballsack rather than his, you know, nipples, you’re making her point for her. Dudes can and do comfortably wander around topless without folks hyperventilating over such a “provocative” act. They aren’t typically sexualized or (man-)slut shamed for it either. That’s all “free the nipple” is about—the double standard.
I must be in the minority, then, because I think it’s just as stupid for guys to wander around with their man-boobs hanging out just for shits and giggles.Also, I don’t really feel like people wandering around in public with see-through shirts is a sexual thing. I think largely it’s just to get a rise out of people (like me!), and it obviously works (viz., this comment thread and the A.V. Club’s story!).The fact that I don’t personally enjoy it or that I find it stupid does not at all mean that there should be a law against it. There’s a huge contextual difference between “I don’t like it” and “Someone should do something about it.” I’m actually more wearied by the fact that a person wearing a see-through shirt or a microthong or something else equally tacky and revealing is somehow a purity test now, like if you’re not 100% on board with it in principle you are automatically on the wrong side of history. It’s just exhausting.(Full disclosure: as a teenager I wore one of those see-through mesh shirts to a party and it just chafed hell out of my nips, so while I may not be on board with the concept generally, I do respect the hell out of anyone who can pull that off without major bleeding.)
I don’t think Pugh is asking anyone to be “100% on board” with her outfits, just to not loudly complain about them. Both things are actually possible. I see lots of outfits every day, on normal people and celebrities, that I personally don’t like the look of, but I keep that to myself because that’s my problem.No one is proposing a law against these outfits, because that would be stupid. What Pugh is saying is “Don’t be a dick about this”, which doesn’t seem like that huge an ask.
Thank you for a well-reasoned response. And your point is the same as mine, except that I guess that you presented it better.Also, my wife and daughters suggested that a hashtag that everyone should be able to agree on is #byebyebras because they’re tired of boob itch and sweat, so there’s that for what it’s worth.
lol I love how you subtly and nonsensically made it known that you have a wife and daughters so that we can all know that you respect women because you own some. lol Having women in your life doesn’t make your comments less sexist or silly.Also everyone won’t agree on that hashtag at all. Lots of women like bras. I have a friend who even sleeps in them because she doesn’t like the feeling of her breasts being loose. So. There’s that.
It wasn’t subtle at all. I came right out and said it. But please continue your string of masturbatory and judgmental replies, I’ve been very entertained by them.I’ve also been extremely entertained by the utter lack of consciousness that you and others have displayed about the irony of shouting me down and insulting me for expressing an opinion when that is the very thing that you’re rallying around Florence for. You already let fly with the “sexist” canard – why not go whole hog and call me a fucking MAGA Nazi incel Trump-blowing piece of shit while you’re at it? That’s on the next page of your playbook, in case you forgot.Toodles!
“But please continue your string of masturbatory”And you please continue your string of weirdly sexualizing non-sexual things.“of shouting me down”Who’s shouting?“for expressing an opinion”You realize no one’s bothered by the fact that you’re expressing an opinion, right? People disagree with the opinion you are expressing. That’s an entirely different thing. You don’t even agree with the opinion you’re expressing. If you did you’d be defending it. But all you’re doing instead is attacking anyone who doesn’t agree with it, which doesn’t show a lot of faith in your point. “why not go whole hog and call me a fucking MAGA Nazi incel Trump-blowing piece of shit while you’re at it”Because I don’t have any reason at this time to believe you are a “fucking MAGA Nazi incel Trump-blowing piece of shit”? I do have reason to think your comments are sexist, so that’s why I said that. I’m not the one just saying silly things for no reason.“That’s on the next page of your playbook”I don’t know what this means.
“lol I love how you subtly and nonsensically made it known that you have a wife and daughters so that we can all know that you respect women because you own some.”This you?
It is. Do you not know how commenting works? Was it directly under my screenname? If so, it was me.
Then spare me the “Who, me?” crap.
I didn’t say “who, me,” and I never claimed not to say anything I said. So I don’t know what you’re trying to suggest here.
“Pugh is saying is ‘Don’t be a dick about this’, which doesn’t seem like that huge an ask.”But to be fair to the OP, it is a really huge ask when you’re, you know, a dick.
“because I think it’s just as stupid for guys to wander around with their man-boobs hanging out just for shits and giggles”What does this even mean? Men go around topless lots of places. How can you be sure if it’s for “shits and giggles”? Why do you think Pugh did it for “shits and giggles”? I don’t understand this comment. Also, why are you calling them “man-boobs”? That’s normally reserved for overweight men whose pecs protrude and sag a bit. Is it only those that you’re offended by, or male chests in general?And why are you so offended by human chests?? What in the world is going on here? Were you not breastfed? Were you breastfed too much?? What did chests do to you?
Your perspective on a lot of this might shift if you stop to realize most people don’t have your opinions in mind when they get dressed in the morning.
Your perspective on my opinions might shift if you stop to realize that I already know that sharing them on an entertainment website’s Disqus comment board is utterly and abjectly without value or meaning.
Usually someone who’s learned such a lesson wouldn’t be relentlessly struggling to clap back when people express disagreement.
If it were just disagreement, there’d be no issue.
Close your eyes then, jackass.
This is the same argument people make about seeing gay people kissing. They think they’re having it shoved in their face, while the gay people just think they’re living their life. You think it’s a provocateur action, because you’ve made it all about you.
Wow it seems like you have some deep-seated resentment towards women you should work on!
Women go around without bras more often than you think. It’s the ones whose breasts you’re ogling that you notice. Maybe put your eyes back in your head and stop believing that your fashion police sensibilities are anything other than your own hangups?
The ones I’m ogling are really the only ones that concern me.
It is provocative as, I believe, it’s meant to be. We need people like this. And it’s what young people have always done. And she isn’t aggressive or weird about it. People like Ezra Miller (or even a young Justin Bieber) are provocateurs but they’re also assholes. Compare her to mental cretins like the Kardashians who simply do things to get attention (and money). The aren’t interested in positive changes, just followers and money.
Sacha Baron Cohen wore the neon green mankini for comedy, not to provoke people in a serious way.
And how many people are “walking up to me and giving me no option but to see it”? Are you being held against your will like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange? Head forced forward, eyes forced open?
Thou doth protest too much, me thinks.
I love how the thinking here is that people should keep covered anything that TeoFabulous is “not especially interested in seeing.”
Where are these nipples you speak of? Asking for the guy that posted below this post.
fervent discourse- the A.V. Club
I agree with her: we’re far too obsessed with peoples’ bodies and how they look on the outside. I think we gotta start showing people what we look like on the inside more. Free the nipple? I say free the gall bladder. Get that baby dangling out of a Versace slip at Paris Fashion Week and we’ll talk.
2024 Superbowl, Justin Timberlake is gonna use a scalpel to help Janet Jackson model the bleeding edge of fashion.
I’m just tired of discourse
“I would like discourse.”
“Not tonight, I have a headache.”
I’m so tired of these Star Wars!
when will they end?
I’d be a liar if I said that her see-through dresses don’t make me knit my brow a bit, but then I’m a different generation. But she’s right and I think she should do whatever she pleases. Everyone watches porn now, everyone knows what bodies look like and the Christian right needs a good slap in the face. Her body is beautiful and she should be comfortable in it and so should we. I’m tired af about hearing what everyone thinks about everyone else’s anatomy. And the eating disorder/dismorphia situation is getting even worse, for women and men (and children too).
This is not a criticism since you admit that it’s not rational, but I honestly don’t get what there is to knit your brow over even. See-through dresses have been a thing in fashion for a long time. It’s been 25 years since Rose McGowan made a stir with one and there have been numerous other women to take the plunge, so to speak in the years since. I would expect my very conservative, boomer parents to be bothered by it, but I don’t get why anyone else finds it shocking.
It goes back way further than 25 years. Sheer fabric was a huge part of the Mod look of the 60s and pretty much defined Cher’s public persona ever since.
Oh for sure. Just the first example I could think of that was similar to Pugh showing up to movie premieres in a see-through dress.
Sure wasn’t her singing.
As I said, I’m not bothered by it and I do, in fact, support it.
Sure. Just wondering why it felt weird to you. Totally fine if you don’t want to say.
Another commenter said that she rolled her eyes at first and no one is giving her a hard time about it.
I’m not trying to give you a hard time. I just genuinely find it strange and was genuinely curious as to why you felt that way. And I genuinely don’t care if you’re not interested in discussing it further. There is no beef to be had here.
Everyone watches porn now? Let me guess – you’re a man.
I am not a man. I do not watch porn. Not sure why you’re focused on that part of my comment; also don’t care.
This is hilarious. It’s not creating discourse; people are just recognizing her desperate need for attention, because this is her thing, now: wearing as little as she can, trying to give her actions weight by crying “Freedom!” like some latter-day sexual revolutionary, . Her actions scream “juvenile”.
This is hilarious. It’s not creating discourse; people are just recognizing her desperate need for attention, because this is her thing, now: wearing as little as she can, trying to give her actions weight by crying “Freedom!” like some latter-day sexual revolutionary, . Her actions scream “juvenile”.
She seems to be the only one talking about it.
I am tired of talking about how beautiful I am. Don’t look at me-look a me. LOOK AT ME!!
this isn’t about a famous person’s freedom it’s about her terrible stylist lol
I genuinely like Ms. Pugh as an actress, but I don’t want to discourse about her nipples.That being said, eventually she’ll turn 30…and that opinion will become far more universal.
Someone please find the killjoy who is complaining about seeing free titties and shoot them.
This seems a lot like the Prince Harry Megan Markel thing. They get people to pay attention to them just so they can tell people to stop paying so much attention to them. For the record I like Florence! Think shes great in everything even if some of her movies aren’t my bag. (Dislike Harry and Megan though.)
They should have had a woman play Luffy in One Piece. Like they did with Peter Pan.
A woman can whip a breast out and breast feed too. Deal with it.
Blonde Widow can do whatever she wants!!!!
But shes right noone should care about any of this shit she does.
If women can’t show their whatever body part local custom decries, men shouldn’t either.Never really understood that one as anything other than “because we can force part of the population to do this”. Dammit, force EVERYONE to live down to your stupidity.
This is a ridiculous thing to worry about when we still don’t have answers to the real question: which members of the ‘Don’t Worry, Darling’ cast has she spat on?
Can’t wait to see you in a hairshirt, Florence!
I am genuinely divided. Oh the one hand: there’s some really gross discourse about Florence Pugh’s body, weight, breast size, etc. on the other: you are playing dumb if you pretend that wearing see through dresses isn’t provocative. You can’t divorce it from cultural context and say you only want to be treated the way you think other people should. You can try, but at some point you have to recognize that visible nipples are still viewed as provocative and wearing see through dresses is a choice in a way that your basic shape isn’t. It comes off like she’s trying to have her cake and eat it: benefit from the attention that this type of dress gets, without wanting the negative consequences.
Expecting humans not to find sex characteristics sexual is a level of blank slatism rarely seen outside of the most Tumblr brained takes.
Despite what the headline says, I don’t see anything here where Pugh claims she doesn’t want any “discourse” about her choices. She’s mentioned “comments” and “statements” but I think you’re claiming intention where it there isn’t any. The result is that commenters will say “Don’t get mad about discourse if you’re trying to create it,” as some have already written, I believe.
I dunno Florence Pugh…. I had a buddy in college with a big package and he admitted that he enjoyed wearing tight shorts that you could see his “print” in. But then he immediately was like “it’s not appropriate in all settings tho, like around children”. Try going to a children’s space and see if the kids find her two nipples cute.
Also tho, as a man, I’ve never once felt the need to include my nipples in my outfit…. there’s this weird idea that because it’s normalized for men to be shirtless in swim trunks women seem to think we’re always displaying our nipples. It is uncomfortable when my nipples are revealed around young ones… women seem to think they’re reclaiming something with this free the nipple stuff – they’re not. Nobody wants to see anyone’s nipples. At least not in an everyday passerby context. Keep that shit to yourself unless your actively trying to fuck someone that evening. And if that’s the case don’t pretend it’s something else by being like #freethenipple if ur just trying to fuck some guy you know will be there.