Cameron Diaz says she faced ‘heavy misogyny’ in Hollywood: ‘I didn’t do as much as could be done now’

Actor Cameron Diaz, known for her romantic roles in The Mask, My Best Friend’s Wedding and There’s Something About Mary, says she endured misogyny in Hollywood for years. The actor, who retired from acting in 2014, said misogyny was a normal aspect of the industry in the 1990s and 2000s.
“I certainly didn’t do as much as could be done now because of the awareness of everybody, you know, sort of like the #MeToo,” Diaz said during host and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakers podcast on International Women’s Day.
“There were still parameters. The 1990s, the early aughts, there was still heavy, heavy misogyny. Just the level of exploitation of powers, it just laid on the entire industry. It was the normal thing to do sort of like (laugh) and just be able to get through unscathed.”
The Charlie’s Angels star said her choice of roles were not enough to break through the double standard of the industry but things are different now.
“Be the one who participated enough to make everybody feel taken care of but not to be a victim in that position. To know how to navigate the whole thing because it was happening all day, every day in every little feeling of layers of exence,” Diaz recalled.
The Holiday star, 49, also spoke about her decision to step away from the limelight post her film Annie.
“Fame is very infantilizing. It’s very much about keeping somebody coddled in a state…”
“I just go back to the trap of it all, especially in our society, like what we value, what we think is important. I am absolutely a victim to all of the societal objectifications and exploitations that women are subjected to. I have bought into all of them myself at certain times,” she added.