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Angelina Jolie is on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar – it comes along with an eye-catching article headline: The Power of Angelina. Power indeed!
What I love right off the bat about this article is that it’s written by Naomi Wolf, someone I have admired in the past. An outspoken author regarding women’s rights and empowerment, I am thrilled that she chose to write something about Angelina Jolie.
She appears to share some of the same thoughts about Angie as the fans do – she compares Angelina to the “sultry Hollywood goddesses” of the 1940s, and how often have we all said the same thing here? We routinely mention that something about Angelina screams Old Hollywood.
Ms. Wolf goes on to point out how Angelina manages to have it all whereas most other women throughout history were unable to manage to be everything at one time: a good person, sexy & sexual, a good mother, rich, famous, and talented with a successful career. Angelina has all of that and more.
The magic of Jolie’s self-presentation? She makes the claim, with her life and actions, that, indeed, you can get away with it. All of it. Against every Western convention, she has managed to draw together all of these kinds of female liberation and empowerment. And her gestures determinedly transgress social boundaries — boundaries of convention, race, class, and gender — giving many of us a vicarious thrill.
What I enjoyed was that she brought up what many naysayers have said in the past – things like her peculiar and very publicly sexual relationship with Billy Bob Thornton and the Oscar night kiss with brother James Haven and the fact that she was clearly seeking constant attention – BUT then she points out what those same people forget, that she has moved past that lifetime, past her eccentricities, and has grown into a mature woman. The transformation started with her decision to adopt Maddox and her involvement with the UNHCR. So many people in life go through a wild phase and then they grow up. It’s amazing to me how many people seem to think the same is not true for Angelina, so it’s refreshing to see someone GETS it.
It goes on to list the many things about Angelina that fascinates women as a whole. The entire article is wonderful to read and you can tell that Naomi Wolf obviously greatly admires Angelina Jolie. I can’t say that I blame her!
Image: Splash News Online
Wonderful article! I hope Angie will read this one.
Queen – You wrote a perfect thank you letter to Ms. Naomi Wolfe. Someone should have done that. Very nice.
Sherry, thank you for the beautiful post.
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Well written article about Jolie. I enjoyed reading it very much. Just luv her. i hope she continues to use her power to do more goods for children and women.
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Brad is spotted in Switzerland. I guess he visited Angie before he flew to Switzerland.
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Entertainment-Photos-Basel2C-Switzerland-Georgios/ss/707/im:/090609/482/0fa751eea6384bf9b00d0552faac2040/;_ylt=AhHbLV0RLGuQvd5rZJ7bXmnBaMYA#photoViewer=/090609/482/8575a387a942493698d4f3db3ff6fcfc
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The article is extremely well written and in general it is looked at through a positive lense. However, I am with some of you here. I am not too happy with the way the author wrote about Brad and his role in Angie’s life. I am not too happy with the last paragraph either.
Anyway, it is still a great article about our Angelina that we can only find once in a long while.
Queen Bee – thanks for your great letter. I am glad you did it!
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this is good news to all of us
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its an incredibly beautiful cover and a good written article!
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Thanks to the people who liked my letter to Naomi Wolfe…
LOUISE….I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS, and I AGREE WHOLE-HEARTEDLY! Angie really does ‘DEFY ALL THAT WE KNOW’! That really sums her up, and actually defines why people get so riled up about her.
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Fan from Vietnam so happy to see you commenting, it has been a while. I am happy to read a nice article about Angelina for a change. I also think that Brad should be given more credit. He is a very large part of Angelina’s life and who she is today.
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Just finally read the whole article.
Now I know why I am so fascinated with Angelina. I was raised by an early feminist & intellectual (my highly accomplished Mother) and hence a tad confused at my “celebrity watching”….
Naomi Wolf made sense of my attraction to this POWERFUL WOMAN. I want it ALL for myself and my sisters too! Good AND sexual. Successful AND happy/casual. Lover AND Mother. I really don’t want to give up one for another.
No wonder I keep my eyes peeled for my role model ANGELINA JOLIE!
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Louise, good points. I think that’s the problem for some women who don’t like Angie. I think it comes down to insecurity with some women, and so, they use Angie’s past against her. Some feel they’re inadequate, and to see an accomplished actress be and take on almost ALL of it pokes at their feeling if inadequacy.
Queen Bee, yes, your letter was wonderfully expressed. :) I hope you get a response.
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Queenbee: that was a great letter. Thanks for articulating our collective sentiments, particularly about Brad’s role in Angelina’s life :)
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i enjoyed the article, i think it is wonderful when someone recognizes that angie has grown into this captivating individual that you can admire. she has an important part in making the world better aware of world problems and like brad she contributes not only her voice and financial help she really does great background work and is prepared when speaking out. she is a very strong woman and has alot of responsibilities, as you can see she does it all. to be that beautiful, classy, intelligent, motherhood,partnership with someone who is an equal to her i could even go on with more. she has been gifted and i wish tabloids would give her more respect that she deserves. i am very proud of the woman she has become and am looking forward to more she has to bring to the table. brad and her should be very proud of themselves and there children will someday soon understand what great parents they have been blessed with. they really care about everything there life is about and are not hollywood prudes, i love givers and despise takers and that really separates them from the people at the top.
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Angelina thank you very much you are a role model to all of us. You are known for your good works as an ambassador plus your geniune concern to unfortunate people. I hope you and Brad and will keep on praying for your happiness together with your children. You field the empty space for us that we can not do in terms of helping needy people. If one day I have alot of money I will also follow your footsteps not only that you have turned your life 190 degrees to change because of having maddox it was really touching and encouraging. The only thing we can all do for you is to pray for your safety and for you to be bless in good health and long long miles to run. Belated Happy Birthday. God Bless and Keep up the good work. Oh dont listen to all this nonesense and mean words that the tabloids are saying they are just jealous. Anyway take care of yourself and fight for BRAD.
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Wow what an amazing article, thank’s Sherry for drawing our attention to it.
I particularly resonated with this bit:
‘So she becomes what psychoanalysts call an “ego ideal” for women — a kind of dream figure that allows women to access, through fantasies of their own, possibilities for their own heightened empowerment and liberation.’
I think (in addition to her activism)that this is a huge part of her appeal. Conversely I also think something similar is going on with those that seek to demonise her. People who are invested in the old paradigm in which women who break societies conventions – must be punished and equally if you are a ‘good girl’ and submit to societies conventions then you will be rewarded -feel that the ‘triangle’ is the narrative gone wrong. With the ‘good girl’ (JA) losing and the ‘bad girl’ (AJ) winning. I am glad progressive thinkers like Naomi Wolf keep drawing our attention to the fact the binary Madonna V Whore concept is the past and the future is women like Angelina embracing their complexities – not good or bad – just themselves, the three dimensional human beings we all have the right to be.
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I started admiring Angelina Jolie when I first saw GIA. She had a lot of potentials back then and now I am so haapy to see those potentials turning into reality. I hope that she continues to make a world a better place with the power, influence and money that she has. I hope someday, I can meet Angelina and we can work out some humanitarian projects together. :-)
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“Youth is wasted on the young”. If you know whose quote this is let me know. My father said this often. Most of us make mistakes when we are young and grow into ourselves, I think that Angelina has done that. The past can’t be redone, but if we are conscious we grow and learn. For someone in a position of power & influence to have a true desire to change the world is ideal & wonderful and really necessary I think. To do that with 6 kids and a career is amazing energy that must come from a super Creative Intelligence that is clearly with Angelina and Brad. I fell honored to just be on the same planet with them!
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“Is Angelina Jolie really the next feminist icon?”
http://www.alternet.org/media/140572/is_angelina_jolie_the_next_feminist_icon/
Great commentary from alternet.org on Naomi Klein’s article on Angelina in Harpers….
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