Cameron Diaz says she rejects ‘toxic’ beauty standards now that she’s a mom

Though Cameron Diaz is and always will be at the top of the “A list,” she’s been taking a break from acting to focus on her family for the last few years. Now 50, Diaz became a first-time mom at 47. In a new interview, she’s opening up about just how much being a mom has influenced her thoughts on beauty and aging—and it’s pretty great.

Cameron Diaz shares her two-year-old daughter, Raddix, with her husband Benji Madden. While she has a public Instagram account and stays busy as the co-founder of the wine brand Avaline, she and Madden keep a pretty low profile. She also keeps Raddix out of the spotlight but is opening up about how her daughter has changed her perspective on beauty standards.

“I am absolutely a victim to all of the societal objectification and exploitations that women are subjected to,” the 49-year-old star revealed on Michelle Visage’s “Rule Breakers” podcast on Tuesday. “I have bought into all of them myself at certain times.” 

As someone who’s spent the better part of her adult life in Hollywood, it had to be nearly impossible to remain unaffected by beauty standards and criticism about her looks.

“It’s hard not to look at yourself and judge yourself against other markers of beauty,” Diaz said. “You’re just sitting in front of the mirror and it’s just toxic. You start to pick yourself apart.” 

Stepping away from Hollywood and focusing on her family has certainly impacted her previously toxic thoughts and low self-esteem. She says these days, she doesn’t think about what she looks like on a daily basis—if at all. (Though she is, of course, breathtakingly beautiful.)

“You’re like, ‘Why am I sitting here being so mean to myself?’ My body’s strong, my body’s capable. Why am I going to talk down to it? Why am I going to mean to it when it’s carried me this far?” 

The almost-50-year-old mama has no qualms about being “older” than most other moms with two-year-olds, either. She says she doesn’t want her daughter to feel like she has an “old mom,” but she also acknowledges that age doesn’t have to be something that you dread.

“The women who have children my age are like, literally almost 20 years younger and that’s an interesting place to be because I’m not that age. And that’s totally okay,” she said. “But I want to feel vital like that for my child. So I want to be able to be the mom who can run around and do all the like fun stuff with her and I want my energy to stay vital.”

In her 2013 book The Body Book, she expanded on her feelings about the privilege of aging: “I look at aging like this: getting older is a blessing and a privilege and if you lay the foundation for a healthy life in your younger years, your older years may very well be some of the best of your life. The point I’m making is not about keeping up your youthful appearance. This is not about beauty and aesthetics of our bodies. I want you to feel young. I want you to feel strong.” 

Amen to that, right? There’s so much pressure on women in general (and especially those in the public eye) to look a certain way and to not dare to grow older. (Just ask Emmy Rossum.) Aging doesn’t have to be something we fight or fear—it’s a beautiful part of life. And if we’re lucky enough, we’ll get to experience it for a long, long time. After all, people don’t get less capable, talented, or beautiful as they get older.

In a recent interview with Yahoo! Finance, Cameron Diaz acknowledged that her new life phase as a mom has changed her whole outlook.

“It’s just a different time in my life now,” she explained. “Now I’m here, and this is the most fulfilling thing that I’ve ever done in my life.”

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