57-year-old actress Brooke Shields has said that she is “amazed” she “survived” being sexualized at just 11 years old.
Shields who teared up as she remembered being “catapulted into the world of adult sexuality” in the trailer for her two-part documentary called “Pretty Baby,” recounted how she was being called “the most photographed woman in the world,” being tagged a “iconic American beauty,” a “object of desire,”and a “sexualized child model.”
The documentary which explores her decades-long career in the spotlight, is named after one of her first movies where she plays a child prostitute, looked back at the times she felt that she was just a “pretty face.”
In one instance, a male reporter dubbed her “an exquisite-looking young lady” and a “pretty girl” when she was just a pre-teen.
Then, at just 16 years old in 1981, she was chosen for the cover of Time Magazine as the face of the 80s era. Shocked, she asked, “Who decides that?” Shields also recalled, “I was struggling to find my own voice, I wasn’t told it was important to have agency.”
However, once she found her confidence, she realized she could have her “own opinion” and her “own voice.” “Now, it’s like I’m allowed to be a human being,” she concluded at the end of the trailer.
In the same documentary, the “Hannah Montana” alum revealed she was raped shortly after graduating from college in 1987.
The actress who shares daughters Rowan, 19, and Grier, 16, with husband Chris Henchy, took a break from Hollywood to attend Princeton University in the 80s. Upon returning to the industry, she had dinner with a man to discuss possible acting projects. He, then, allegedly convinced her to go back to his hotel.
Shields remembered, noting that he told her he was calling a cab, but returned to the room naked. She said;
“I go up to my hotel room, and he goes away for a while.” I didn’t put up much of a fight. No, I didn’t. I just stood there frozen. I thought one ‘No’ should have sufficed, and I just thought, ‘Stay alive and get out,’ and I shut it out.
“God knows I knew how to disconnect from my body. That was something I’d practiced.”
The “Suddenly Susan” star admitted that she did not process the assault for several years and even blamed herself for a time.
Shields were added.
“He told me, ‘I can trust you, but I can’t trust other people.’ It’s so overused as to be pitiful.
“I thought I sent out a message, and that’s how the message was received.” At dinner, I drank wine. I entered the room. I was just so trusting.
