Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson pushes back against 'really misogynistic' criticisms of top surgery
Nonbinary Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson (who plays the teen version of Van Palmer) is pushing back against criticism of top surgery as a form of "mutilation" for people who were assigned female at birth.
"It's really misogynistic: 'These girls couldn't possibly make this decision correctly and will need to be stopped from doing terrible things to their bodies,'" Hewson said in an interview with Teen Vogue. "When people talk about gender-affirming surgery using words like 'mutilation,' that's not very nice. Is that how you think about people who've had surgery for other things?"
Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images Liv Hewson
In the interview, Hewson, who uses they/them pronouns, also reflected on the notion of regret as it relates to gender-affirming surgery.
"Is the idea that nobody ever feel regret about anything?" Hewson said. "Aside from the fact that we have complete statistical information about regret rates of gender-affirming surgery and this is an absolute nonstarter, what? Are you also going to legislate against people getting tattoos? It's just control: 'I want you to make decisions based on my level of comfort with your existence.' That is completely irrational."
As Hewson noted, recent studies have found scant evidence of people regretting their gender-affirming care. One example, published in the latest issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (a journal by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons), found less than 1 percent of people regretted their procedure.
Earlier this year, Hewson voluntarily opted out of Emmys consideration for their Yellowjackets performance, saying "there's not a place for me in the acting categories." The conversation around whether awards shows should revamp gendered approaches to nominations is ongoing. Last month, Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first openly nonbinary actors to win Tony Awards for acting.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
