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Females are uniting in defence of Oscar-winning actor Catherine Zeta-Jones after she encountered disparaging remarks on social media over her appearance during a red carpet event.

The actor was present at an industry gathering in Hollywood recently where an online segment featuring her character in season two of the 'Wednesday' show became dominated due to comments about her looks.

A Chorus of Defence

This year's Miss Great Britain Classic winner, Laura White, called the backlash "complete nonsense", noting that "males escape this sell-by/use-by date imposed on women".

"Men don't have such a timeline which women face," argued the pageant winner.

Beauty journalist aged 50, Sali Hughes, said differently from men, females are criticized for ageing and she ought to be at liberty to look as she wishes.

Online Reaction

During the interview, uploaded to social media and had over 2.5 million views, Zeta-Jones, who is from Swansea, spoke of the pleasure of exploring her part, the Addams Family matriarch, in season two.

However a significant number of the hundreds of comments zeroed in on her years and were negative regarding her looks.

The online backlash sparked widespread defence for Zeta-Jones, featuring a popular post from one Facebook user which stated: "You bully women if they undergo treatments and bully them when they don't have enough."

Online users came to her defence, with one writing: "It's called growing older naturally and she looks beautiful."

Others described her as "beautiful" and "so pretty", while someone else said that "she looks her age - which is simply reality."

Making a Point

The winner attended at the studio recently without any makeup to make a statement and to show the absence of a "mold" of how a woman of a certain age ought to appear.

As with others in her demographic, she said she "looks after herself" not for a youthful appearance but in order to feel "better" and look "vibrant".

"Getting older represents a gift and if we can do it as well as possible, this is what really matters," she added.

She argued that men were not judged by identical aesthetic benchmarks, adding "nobody scrutinizes how old Tom Cruise, George Clooney or Tom Jones are - they just appear 'fantastic'."

Ms White noted this was part of the motivation for entering the pageant's division the classic category, to prove that women in midlife remain relevant" and "retain their appeal".

The Core Issue

Hughes, a journalist from Wales, said that while Zeta-Jones was "stunning" it was "irrelevant", noting she deserves to be able to look however she liked absent her age being scrutinised.

She stated the online abuse proved not a single woman is "immune" and that women do not deserve the "ongoing theme" suggesting they are not good enough or of the right age - a situation that is "infuriating, irrespective of the person involved".

Asked if men experience identical criticism, she responded "absolutely not", adding females are criticized merely for showing "boldness" to exist online while growing older.

A No-Win Situation

Even with the beauty industry advocating for "age-defiance", she commented females are still face criticism regardless of if they grow older naturally or chose interventions such as surgical procedures or injectables.

"Should you grow older naturally, people say you ought to try harder; if you get procedures, people say you not aging gracefully enough," she added.