Tick, tick, tick. Bonus tick.<\/p>\n
And yet, in the last few months, Sweeney has become a lightning rod for online rage. There are rumours that she\u2019s a fervent Trump supporter<\/a> (over the summer, it emerged that she\u2019d registered as a Republican voter a few months before Trump won the US presidency), that she might be an advocate for eugenics (blame a poorly thought-out American Eagle campaign), and that she might have brought Maga-inspired hats to her mother\u2019s birthday party<\/a>. Nothing the actor has said or done confirms any of this, but it has been enough to catalyse a hate campaign, one that reached its apex last week when the actor had the audacity to remind us she has breasts. Yes, really.<\/p>\n On Wednesday evening, the actor wore a sheer silver gown to Variety\u2019s Power of Women event in Beverly Hills. Designed by Christian Cowan<\/a>, the gown exposed her nipples, prompting a deluge of criticism. \u201cDress for the occasion \u2013 it\u2019s not Playboy,\u201d commented one person on an Instagram post of Sweeney shared by Variety. \u201cThat dress doesn\u2019t empower but overpower,\u201d added another. Others argued that the dress was worn in \u201cpoor taste\u201d and encouraged the objectification of women.<\/p>\n Sadly, this isn\u2019t surprising. And while I look absolutely nothing like Sweeney (a tragedy on which I can only blame my parents) and am far from a Hollywood celebrity, I can relate to the way she\u2019s being targeted. Because as women, we\u2019re damned if we do and damned if we don\u2019t, especially if, like Sweeney, we\u2019re doing rather well. The same conflicting limitations are imposed on us all: be pretty but not beautiful! Be successful but not independently wealthy! Be confident but not arrogant! And so on.<\/p>\n These are the paradoxical wheels on which modern femininity spins. And we\u2019re reminded of that time and time again. Take the time a distant relative made a flippant remark about how I\u2019m often wearing \u201cnext to nothing\u201d at parties, or the occasion when a friend criticised me for sharing too many photos of myself on Instagram. I\u2019ve been criticised for making too much and too little of an effort at events, and don\u2019t get me started on the way people police female writers for daring to take an interest in a wide range of subjects; sometimes I write about violence against women<\/a>, and sometimes I write about shoes<\/a>. That\u2019s just me!<\/p>\n But women aren\u2019t allowed to be layered, and Sweeney is a perfect encapsulation of those limitations.<\/p>\n![\"Sydney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2244087087.jpg\")
Sydney Sweeney appeared with Sharon Stone in a sheer dress at the Variety Power of Women event on Wednesday (Getty Images)<\/p>\n