Kate Beckinsale, 46, addresses 'ridiculous' criticism of relationship with 22 year old
Kate Beckinsale has spoken out about gender double standards, hitting back at “ridiculous” criticism of her age-gap relationships and social life.
The actress, 46, said while men “constantly do whatever they like”, women over the age of 32 seem to be committing a “political act” whenever they do anything “risqué” or “fun”.
Speaking in a new interview with Women’s Health, Beckinsale criticised the gender imbalance and opened up about her life in the public eye.
Last April, the 46-year-old ended her relationship with comedian Pete Davidson 26, and has most recently been linked to 22-year-old musician Goody Grace, who she is reported to be living with in Los Angeles during lockdown.
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Speaking of the criticism she receives, Beckinsale said: “It can feel like a little bit of a political act to be a woman over 32 who’s having any fun at all.
“And by that, I don’t mean doing drugs and drinking and partying, because I never am, but being goofy, and going out, and not going, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to sit home and anticipate menopause while crocheting.’
She continued: “Unless you’re doing that, it somehow seems to be risqué, which is just ridiculous to me.”
The actress went on to say that there are different expectations on what men and women can do: “I witness men constantly doing whatever they like, whether in relationships, or deciding to buy a motorbike, or getting a tattoo.
“It hasn’t been interpreted as, ‘why hasn’t he had more children?’ or ‘is he ever going to decide to become a parent?’ or ‘why has he had so many girlfriends?’.”
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Kate also revealed how she thinks women are body-shamed “100 million per cent” more than men, though she did go on to site an example of a time her co-star Ben Affleck was shamed about his teeth.
“On this particular project, I wasn't… Ben [Affleck], who'd already done a movie with the director [Michael Bay], was like, ‘This happened to me... They made me get new teeth’.”
This isn’t the first time Beckinsale has hit back about ageism.
In December 2019 the actress shut down critics who said she was “too old” to share images of herself wearing swimwear on social media.
After sharing a series of pictures from a holiday to Mexico on Instagram, one person commented that Beckinsale is “too old” and seeking attention with the bikini snaps, to which she offered this lengthy response: “Are you aware that when you get the urge to accuse someone of something, especially someone you don’t know, or attribute an intention without ever having met the person, that the only thing really being achieved is revealing something about yourself or something you fear about yourself?
“I don’t know you and I don’t know who has made you feel that if you get older you have no value, can’t be attractive or sexy or have a relationship with your body that isn’t only self loathing, but as one female to another, don’t let any of that noise bother you.”
The full interview with Beckinsale appears in the June issue of Women’s Health, on sale now.
