Why Does Hollywood Keep Punishing Successful Women for Being Too Visible?

There is no doubt that Zendaya is one of the biggest actors of the moment. Although the third and final season of Euphoria has been criticized to death, her performance has escaped the blows. And, of course, every last one of her appearances on the red carpet is enthusiastically applauded, thanks to the wonderful work of Law Roach, the stylist who has turned her into one of today's biggest fashion icons. However, the fact that she is starring in five major projects this year has tired some people, who are already talking about “Zendaya fatigue.”The problem is that “being too visible” is something that affects women—rarely men—in Hollywood. As Stylist editor Susanne Norris recently noted, Zendaya “joins the likes of [Anne] Hathaway, [Jennifer] Lawrence, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande—all of whom have been targets for being too visible and being among the best at what they do.” Back in 2022, writer and cultural commentator Rayne Fisher-Quann coined a term for this: “woman’d,” which refers to the moment when “everyone stops feeling sympathy for a woman at the same time.” Zendaya’s case is a new example of this deeply misogynistic phenomenon.Taylor Hill//Getty ImagesWhile Robert Pattinson, who is also starring in five films this year, is said to be “on a generation-defining streak,” Zendaya—whose 2026 projects include The Drama, the final season of Euphoria, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, The Odyssey, and possibly Avengers: Doomsday—is described as “already tiring” and “everywhere.” However, the truth is that Zendaya herself has acknowledged that she fears people will get tired of her.“I just hope you guys don’t get sick of me this year because I’ll tell you what—I’m disappearing for a little bit. I’m going to have to go into hiding for just a little bit,” she said during a March interview with Fandango.Margot Robbie expressed a similar sentiment during a 2024 Deadline interview when asked if she planned to take a break. “I also think everyone’s probably sick of the sight of me for now. I should probably disappear from screens for a while,” she said, adding, “Honestly, if I did another movie too soon, people would say, ‘Her again? We just did a whole summer with her. We’re over it.’”Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.Use your Google account to add this to your settings.Dave Benett//Getty ImagesKevin Mazur//Getty ImagesAnd let’s not forget when Jennifer Lawrence withdrew from screens for a time due to that same fear of overexposure. “I just think everybody had gotten sick of me. I’d gotten sick of me. It had just gotten to a point where I couldn’t do anything right,” she told Vanity Fair during her 2021 comeback interview, later adding, “I felt like I reached a point where people were not pleased just by my existence.”The debate over the so-called “Zendaya fatigue” highlights a challenge for women in Hollywood. Although taking part in the industry’s biggest projects in the same year is an unmistakable sign of success, constant exposure can weary audiences. It doesn’t matter if the actress is not only wonderful at her job but also funny and likable: Sooner or later, in an unexpected twist, people can go from love to hate in a fleeting and ruthless way.Throughout history, women in Hollywood have been judged by a very different standard than actors when it comes to recognizing and celebrating their talent. Too often, successful women are belittled for the qualities people applaud and admire in men. If Zendaya wants to take a break because she is exhausted, by all means, she should. But if she feels the need to slow down when her career is at its peak so as not to bother men who punish her success, we ask her to keep going.The rise and fall of female celebrities reflects a fear that is deeply rooted in patriarchy: Women are treated as if they had committed a sin by being too visible and are accused of seeking attention. The trap, then, lies in figuring out how to succeed in a system that seems to have been designed to punish women who achieve success.In the end, the message—even if it has never been verbalized—is that success will always be temporary. Sooner rather than later, the actress of the moment will have to make way for a new face to take her place so the cycle can repeat itself. The newcomer will be admired and loved until, suddenly, she receives hatred, is silenced, and is forced to step back so as “not to wear people out” and to make way for the next one. Because if one woman’s success terrifies many, what would happen if many women were able to enjoy it? Let’s hope we see that soon.