Zooey Deschanel covers the August issue of InStyle, although many people are complaining that InStyle Photoshopped Zooey to an extreme level. So extreme, Zooey looks a bit like Jared Leto. Which… yes, I can see that. They changed her eyes and she does look Leto-esque. Anyway, Zooey talks about some of the same stuff she’s discussed in previous interviews, like her bangs and being bullied as a kid. She also identifies as a feminist and bashes 1950s gender norms. Oh, and she hates label snobs.
She’s not a label snob & she doesn’t respect label snobs: “I remember I was wearing a cute jacket, and I saw this well-known actress — who will remain nameless — with her stylist. They said, ‘Oh my God, that’s so cute, where did you get it?’ I told them, and it was not a fancy brand, and then they were like, ‘Oh…’. I just thought, Do you not like it anymore because of the brand? That’s so dumb. And you have just made yourself into a cartoon villain.”
Her Tommy Hilfiger line, To Tommy From Zooey: “There is an audience for more modest clothes. I hate that fashion could be something that excludes people.”
Her bangs: “I do see the advantage of having something people can grab onto: ‘Hey, I know who that is! She has bangs!’”
Being asked about whether she wants kids: “When I was married, that was the first thing people wanted to know. Like every woman is dying to give birth! I don’t think so. Nobody asks guys that. And you go into a supermarket and every tabloid is like, ‘Pregnant and Alone!’ Stuck in this 1950s ideal of how a woman should live her life. This brings out the fiery feminist in me. That’s not something that defines me at all.'”
Being bullied in middle school: “Seventh grade was the ultimate low rock bottom—someone spitting in your face while you are on your way to your locker. Having to fight your way through those years makes you ready for the future. I can snap back, I can make fun of myself before they do—I can do all of it. There’s no way I can ever be as sensitive as I used to be, and it’s sad to lose any sensitivity because it generally makes people very good at art.”
Fame reveals a person’s real character: “I’ve seen a lot of people turn—sometimes it unlocks who they really are. They turn into celebrities are who are separate from themselves. That’s OK, but I just don’t want to be like that…I have to be normal. My mother wouldn’t let me be any other way.”
I applaud her for being so strident in NOT answering the incessant questions about motherhood that all celebrity women get. That being said, celebrity dudes are starting to get those questions regularly too. That’s how big the Celebrity Motherhood Industrial Complex has gotten – now men are asked consistently about their desire to be a father, etc. And I agree with her about label snobs. But then again, I shop at Kohl’s and Old Navy. Because I’m cheap and awesome and I pretty much get to wear sweatpants and flip-flops every day.
Photos courtesy of InStyle.
I don’t like the cover photo but I enjoyed reading her interview.
Me too.
yep
I love the fashion snob stuff.
Wear whatever looks and feels good.
My big splurge is lululemon yoga pants. I wear them almost every day. They’re expensive but last way longer than any other brand so they’re worth it. I but reef flip flops for the same reason. One pair lasts 2 summers so over time they pay for themselves.
But otherwise I’ll shop anywhere. Just let me splurge on my yoga pants and flip flops
loved the fashion snob thing, too.
and the reverse is true, too…as in, there are plenty of folks will wear something that is supremely ugly just because it’s LV or Chanel, etc.
My immediate thought was that hideous chanel bag that Kristen Stewart got paid to carry
People really will pay a ton of money for it because it’s chanel
Yes exactly ! Not everyone wants to have kids or give birth. Being pregnant for 9 months and going into labor seem like pure hell. I know some women have easier pregnancies than others, but jeez I give props to women who can do that over and over again. I know the end result is a beautiful baby but still I don’t know…just proves not all women are programmed to want to pop out babies.
I like her even more now………….Shayleen Woodshed could learn a thing or a million from her.
🙂
those pictures are terrible. especially the cover.
“Every woman isn’t dying to give birth.” Glad Zoey set them straight. I know I won’t be having kids because I don’t want any. It was odd when I had to stand up to my very conventional mom and siblings on this subject. Stupid. She thought I was gay because I wouldn’t spit out any kids. I had to tell her and all 4 of my sisters off. Word Girl will not be having any of that. Haha. I’m a an awesome aunt though. I told them that I just want to be rich and successful in business like Oprah with no kids and my own version of Stedman, the lifelong partner, who is rich as well. No woman should have received the type of heat that I did for wanting to finish college without a bun in the oven.
I’m sorry your family weren’t understanding but good for you! I like your plan. It’s horrible when women aren’t supportive of another woman’s rational decisions.
That is crazy that she thought you were gay because you didn’t want to have kids! One is so not related to the other!
@ Curious Cole& @ Tiffany,
Thanks, I agree that being gay isn’t the same as not wanting to have kids or being a serial dater. Although she meant it as an insult, I just took her thinking I was gay as a complement because a lot of gay people are really great people. I’ve always been the odd ball out, and I’m fine with that.
@Word Girl, good for you for knowing your own mind. My little eighteen year old cousin was an only child until she was eight. Her parents divorced and she now has five younger siblings. Her mother had breast cancer a couple of years ago, and Emily ended up basically stepping in as mom to her two younger siblings. She’s loving but extremely strict, and has stated emphatically that she does not want kids! She will be an attorney with an MBA and that’s that. I tell her, “Good for you Emily for knowing your own mind. Don’t let anyone talk you out of your opinion.”
@mayamae,
Glad your little cousin has a you as a good support system. More young ladies that choose a path that exclude motherhood need good people around them to help them bare the rejection and backlash that may come from the family as a result of their choice.
I’m sorry your family doesn’t understand your choices. My family is awesome in that aspect.. No one asks about getting married or having kids to no one… They’ll ask how’s everything at work and stuff like that, but not marriage and kids…
I am 37, single (and will remain trouble free thank you very much), no kids and I don´t want any. And after my 34 birthday the “are you sure you like men?” was the third question after “why don´t you have a boyfriend?” and “don´t you want kids?”. And most of the time women were the ones asking. I was, and still am, very tempted to ask them back if motherhood or marriage made them stupid.
Very refreshing and I love what she said about tabloids selling stories about female celebs through a 1950s lens. My only gripe is the incessant stories about being bullied in junior high. She’s around my age. I was bullied as well but I got over it about decade and half ago.
I think she’s trying to be “relatable” when she brings up the bullying topic, but I agree, she should have dealt with it long ago. I do like how she said it made her a less sensitive person though. That I can see happening.
I wasn’t too horribly bullied in junior and senior high, but I was definitely NOT one of the cool kids. Thanks to social media, sometimes I can see what former classmates are up to and I won’t lie, it does give me a small feeling of satisfaction/gloating when I see that my life is far more awesome than the lives of those who called me ugly in high school. So yes, I’m a terrible person who clearly hasn’t matured haha :D.
Maybe Zooey was trying to be eloquent and not flat out say “nah nah nah boo boo, I’m rich and famous and you losers aren’t!” LOL.
LOL! 😉
Wish I had less experience with this, but I was also bullied as a preteen and it was so extreme that it stays with me even today (in my 30s). It sounds like Zooey might be similar. People react differently to emotional trauma. My dad is in his 60s now and still laments being punched in the stomach every day by a bully in elementary school. That’s not to say I think about that stuff all the time, but when it does come to mind it is still painful. For some people, certain things just never leave the heart.
“People react differently to emotional trauma.”
You are 100% right and I was being insensitive and single-minded. I grew up in a tightknit family that instilled me with a strong coping mechanism to withstand bullying and teasing. I recognize that not everyone is that lucky.
It’s all good Kitten. You’re one of my favorite commenters here. Glad you had a great support system and a strong head on your shoulders. Having a thick skin is definitely an asset — I wish mine was thicker sometimes! 😉
Aside from the extreme cases we’ve all felt bullied at some point. And most of us did some bullying, meaning someone out there remembers us as bullies. It’s hard to accept that about ourselves but we all spread malicious gossip or hurt someone’s feelings at one point. So except for the rare cases of true torment, everyone needs to move on from middle school issues.
Really? I never bullied anyone.
Tang – we all want to believe that about ourselves but in reality we have all said or done an unkind thing that hurt someone more than we realized, even forgetting to invite someone to a birthday party is a hurt some kids hold onto. Adolescence is a tricky phase in life.
I definitely did a mean-girl thing once in high school. I genuinely apologized but she never forgave me. While I regret my actions, it was a good learning experience for me. Never did anything like that again because I hated myself so much afterwards.
@ bettyrose – forgetting to invite someone to a birthday party is NOT the same thing as “bullying”. We’ve all been mean and we’ve all had people be mean to us. But, that’s not the same thing as bullying, which is defined as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, and attacking someone physically or verbally”. Spitting on someone = bullying. Forgetting to invite someone to a party = not bullying.
The moral of Romy & Michelle…preach it.
NEHA – if a child feels bullied, they’re not going to look up the dictionary definition to decide whether or not it was conventional bullying. Being ignored or left out of social functions will feel like bullying to a lot of kids. And thus as adults they might someday say “I was bullied as a kid.” It’s a complex issue.
Amen. And you know, my mom taught me that looking good and having style had very little to do with money. She said “Know what you like, what flatters you, and how happy you feel when you are wearing it”. I shop at Old Navy, vintage, little boutiques-what does it matter as long as you like it? And yeah-we are not all desperate to land a Draper and make babies.
“When I was married, that was the first thing people wanted to know. Like every woman is dying to give birth! I don’t think so.”
PREACH, Zooey!
She does look like Leto on the cover. She has very close-set eyes, which is normally disguised with the retro ‘wing’ liner look she frequently uses, pulling the eyes further away from the center.
Good interview. I like her more now.
I respect women who don’t have kids just to bow to social pressure. Same with men.
I really wanted kids and I can’t tell you how much I love having my daughter, but she is damn hard work. And I’m fortunate enough to have help! Kids are not accessories.
If a woman doesn’t want kids, then as a society we should not pressure her. No good can come of that.
On a side note, I HATE it when people pester about kids. What if the woman is trying and can’t have any? What if she had miscarriages? Does she OWE people an explanation?? I don’t think so. Having kids is a personal matter and people should be asked only if they bring it up first.
Nice to hear someone who wants kids understands where those who don’t are coming from!
Yes!! I agree with this so much. My husband and I were married for 8 years before we had any desire to start trying to have kids! Too many people thought we were crazy. Now we have 1 and have been trying for a second for 1.5 years. I’m so tired of people that can’t let it go! Don’t assume every woman wants the same things!
My parents had a similar timescale from marriage to kids, they travelled the world and set themselves up comfortably in that time, they’ve been together for forty odd years now and are very happy. Hope you have the same results.
Thanks for your post, it’s refreshing!
As a childfree woman, I really appreciate your comment. I agree with your comment about pestering as well. I have cringed when listening to nosy people asking mothers of one whose child’s birth involved years of trying, small fortunes, and multiple disappointments when they were going to give the little one a brother or sister. I don’t know why people assume that having children is easy for everyone.
Ask them if they’ve seen Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies, then stfu.
I love her. She’s one of the few celebrities I’d actually like to meet. Most of them seem so up themselves or complete idiots.
Side note, what did they do to her face? It doesn’t even look like her.
I love that she said that , society puts SO much pressure on women to become mothers even when they have no desire to do so. I have known women that really never planned on having children or really had a desire to but had them because they felt they “had to” and it’s just what you did at a certain point in your life. Women are made to feel shallow , selfish and like they have something wrong with them if they have no desire to have children. It’s sad really. And the women who do want to have kids but want to wait a while, get pressured as well to start popping them out ASAP.
I am convinced the pressure to reproduce is because all parents are secretly miserable and they just want everyone to be miserable like them.
LOL Algernon. That has been my (albeit silent) theory for ages!
They turned her into Shannon Doherty! WTH?
Zooey is already gorgeous, why did they have to Photoshop her?
I’d love for any of the women’s magazines to do a cover 1980-90`s style, with no Photoshop at all, just a real person!
My favorite thing is this bag my husband found in a dumpster. It’s awesome and it was free! So obviously I am not that concerned about labels. He has to stop me from telling people where it came from when they ask though! Nothing is better to me than finding something cheap, free or in an unexpected place. I could have expensive stuff but it’s just stupid to me to waste the money on something with no actual value. If I could find good quality things I would pay more for them but even the expensive stuff is garbage. I saw a shirt for $60 and it was flimsy crap, like I would spend $60 on something that isn’t worth $5! If anyone knows where to get actual decent quality stuff, please tell me! It drives me crazy to see cheap junk for such insane prices! Not that Zooey has to worry, she’s rich.
@ Astra,
I’m glad I don’t feel the pressure to buy expensive products either. Don’t get me wrong a lot of expensive brands do hold up better in the wash, but I go where the bargains are. I think the quality is more in the fit of the garment and in shoes as well. A pair of shoes that are bit more pricey than it’s inexpensive competition may last longer though.
Yes! Definitely have a whole new level of respect for her. She was so refreshingly honest & candid…seemed to be speaking from her heart. She’s just great, really!
I have to agree that is some crazy photo shopping. She looks like Tori Amos in that photo, which is just super weird since they look nothing alike in reality.
I always want kids until I’m at the grocery store and see one throwing a tantrum. It’s like my vagina locks. Good for her for OPENLY saying she’s not into it. Being a mother doesn’t define who you are as a woman.
Ya know what I’m just not into? This while freaking discussion. It’s tiresome. Everyone can just stop asking everyone else about it, in magazines and in life.
ScarJo or Goop for the label snob.
I agree with everything. Not everyone wants to be a mother. And that choice should be respected. I’m a mom and a step-mom, but that doesn’t mean I think everyone should have kids. As for the label snob thing… preach it, Zooey. I have money, but there are better things to spend money on than labels. I have some pieces that are labels and I wear to death (mostly Burberry – my raincoat and wellies and this wicked Prorsum black dress with lace and embroidery that I wear the crap out of for special events), but I also have a ton of Old Navy and stuff from Target and Kohls.
Love her.
Love her & everything she said. I’ve always known that parenthood wasn’t for me (nor is it appealing to my only sibling) & luckily my mom is great about it. When people ask her if she has grandkids, she tells them she has the four legged furry kind. She even “babysits” for my pets when I travel. I think it’s normal for people to be curious about those who choose not to have children, but a lot of times it’s their reaction that’s off putting. I don’t mind being asked about my choice, but I do mind being judged for it.
On another topic, 7th grade was my worst Hell and I hate label whores.
I’m so happy to see so many positive Zooey comments! She’s always seemed like a cool chick to me, but people just rag on her so much. Here’s a honk for more Zooey!
Why do teachers in school even put up with kids who spit on each other???
My good friend is a grade school teacher, and she has told me that teachers who send children to the principal to be disciplined are looked at as unable to control their classroom. She said it’s very frowned upon, and she’s the daughter of a principal, so I don’t think she would unfairly criticize.
I’ve always had a soft spot for her ever since The Bridge to Tarabithia.
Did she do something to her mouth/face or is that bad photoshopping?
Love the comments about babies! If I had a dollar for every comment I get for not having had babies at 33, I would be a VERY rich lady right now! It disgusts me how backwards our society still is almost like you are not a whole person or something is wrong with you if you don’t want to procreate (no one tells this to men who don’t want kids only women). We need to realize it is the 21st century, we are overpopulated, there are loads of starving/unwanted children in this world already, get over
yourselves if you think every single woman needs to bear children to feel whole.
Agree. This very moment my mom keeps pestering my 38 year old sister when is she ever going to grant my mother a grandchild (although she already has 2 from me and 2 from my brother). I grit my teeth listening to my mom complains about it. Her justification is my sister is the eldest one and if she has a child, the baby would be considered “special/privilege” one since the he/she was given by the eldest one. I told my mom, “way to make me and my brother feel special!”. But she comes up with different reasons all the time anyway. last week it was religion (god wants us to bear children blah blah) and the other day it was the age thing (biological clock ticking). It becomes so comical my sister and I eventually laugh every time my mom makes those comments.
I buy the label thing with Zooey. When she was going through her divorce, her
financial situation was released. Responsible, no huge debts, credit cards paid off and money in 401k ‘ s etc. This woman is no dummy.
So glad to see this, because it is just so spot-on. Not every woman wants to be a mother and I’ve never understood why that is considered a “selfish” decision.
I always thought it was very selfish when people say they have kids just to have someone take care of them when they get old.
Well, who WILL take care of an elderly person if they have no family, their spouse and friends have died…you get the picture. Many elderly people, unfortunately, have no family and a social worker will ultimately make all the decisions on what happens to them.
Anyway, most people have kids because they want a family, they want relationships with others. For the same reason people want to find a spouse, partner or significant other. Bar buddies don’t really fill the void.
There are such things as friends honest to goodness friends not bar buddies. Those are people who will be there of you even when you get old. I live 8 hours away from my parents, an only child, my parents have no intentions of me taking care of them and have saved their money to get the care they need when they get old. Without children, you can save money and go to a posh independent living home where you can hang out with your friends, have your own apartment but can get care if needed, and live a fairly mobile life. You also can have everything in writing like DNR’s etc like my 96 year old grandma and parents have. Having children is also no guarantee they will be alive or nearby once you get old either (my uncle is 77 and has out lived 2 out of his 3 kids and the last one has cancer for example).
Agreed. There’s no promise that the children will even look after their parents. It seems very foolish to base your future on an assumption. My great-aunt never married or had children, and she had an amazingly awesome life, traveling the world as a journalist and then as a missionary. She passed four years ago at 103 and she never had a shortage of friends or loved ones in her life. Children are not the be-all and end-all goal for some women.
Im only 24 and I’ve already had people ask when I’m going to give my mother grandchildren. Sometimes it takes every fiber of my being not to punch them.
And its not even that I dont want kids. Im open to having them. Its just I would like to make sure Im in a financially good place, as well as in stable relationship…not too mention emotionally mature, before I even think about it. I mean the other day I made hot wings for breakfast. Hot wings for breakfast. Do you really think I should be entrusted with a kid?
I like Zooey so much more after this interview. She seems so down to earth and relatable. I like what she said about fashion and I couldn’t agree more about not every woman wanting kids. That’s why I love Celebitchy so much – I come here to see all these other wonderful and happy women who also don’t want kids 🙂 I’m doing just fine being an awesome aunt 🙂
My favourite thing about Zooey is that she apparently looks exactly like me. I have actually dined out for free several times because the restaurant has mistaken me for Zooey and refused to let me pay my bill. This used to make me feel really guilty, but after repeatedly insisting that I am NOT Zooey Deschanel, and being told by people that I actually AM, I’ve given up.
Crazy world. Particularly as I don’t really see the resemblance.