5 Reasons to Stop Hath-a-Hating & Start Hath-a-Loving

Ever since her Oscars acceptance speech, one of America’s finest young actresses has been struck by wave after wave of derision. If you’ve been on the internet recently, you know I’m talking about the beautiful Anne Hathaway. I keep shutting my windows and waiting for it to stop, but hurricane Hath-a-Hate is still raining insults and scattering debris. As one of her true fans, I can’t sit by any longer.

Here are 5 reasons to love Ms. Hathaway.

1. That pixie cut. C’mon, admit it. It’s so darn chic.
2. She’s not “one of the guys.” And frankly, what a relief! There’s a lot of pressure to be “boyish” in taste and attitude. Recently, I was outright shamed for preferring Downton Abbey and The Good Wife to the more “masculine” soap opera Game of Thrones. I chimed in that I liked The Wire, too, but it was too late.  My “girly” taste had discredited me with this crowd. But why should it? That’s just plain old-fashioned sexism. Now, it’s been said that Jennifer Lawrence (whom I also adore) is the kind of girl you want to get a beer with, and Anne Hathaway is the kind of girl who probably doesn’t drink beer. And I say, so what? Girls are not “less than” who have what are typically thought of as feminine tastes and qualities. Keep your brewskis, Borathians. I’ll be drinking pink champagne with the Dowager Countess in the drawing room. Anne, please join us. Can’t wait to see what you wear!
3. Anne speaks out on women’s issues. She’s the face of One Billion Rising, the global movement to end violence against women, has been candid about her personal struggles with body image, and spoke  about the perils of being a sex worker at the Oscars. As Gloria Steinem pointed out on Facebook, most people were too caught up speculating about her nipples or criticizing her likeability factor to register her message.
4. She’s a lot more like you and me than you think. Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I’m not free of body image issues (see Lena Dunham) nor do I possess an almost holy level of confidence that lets me handle every situation with breezy grace and a sprinkle of saltiness (see the great Jennifer Lawrence), but I don’t think so. While I admire Dunham and Lawrence and think they are excellent role models, I wonder why we are so very quick to loosen the Twitter hounds on someone who displays a more human – and common – level of fragility, insecurity or guardedness. Maybe if we could be a little nicer to ourselves about our own flaws, we’d ease up on the Hath-a-Hate.
5. Anne’s a fabulous actress. This is her job, isn’t it? And she’s amazing at it. See Rachel Getting Married. See Love and Other Drugs. See Les Misérables. I’m going to go out on a crazy limb here and say see Bride Wars. She was real and vulnerable and funny. (And it was written by one of my all time comic favs, Casey Wilson!) And hey, have you heard Anne sing? Because she’s really good. Maybe it’s because I also have unusually large teeth and have been accused of “trying too hard” that I see the best in Anne, but no matter why I started liking her, it’s her acting talent – not her dress darts or acceptance speeches – that will keep me Hath-a-Loving and continue to cement her place as one of the best actresses of our time.

Featured image via OK Magazine