Quote Of The Day By Tracee Ellis Ross: 'Our Culture Narrowly Defines Beauty...'

When Tracee Ellis Ross comes to mind, words like "spirited" and "effervescent" inevitably follow closely behind — she's one of those unique Hollywood celebs that manages to strike a lovely balance between bubbly and sophisticated. Ross started racking up the TV and film credits in the mid-'90s, and in the decades since, she's become one of the great, somewhat underrated comedic actors. She earned a Golden Globe in 2017 for her role as Rainbow Johnson in "Black-ish."

In between leading two megahit television shows — "Girlfriends" and "Black-ish" — Ross has also managed to become a must-watch for fashion obsessives. She's definitely among the celebrity kids who inherited their parents' famous style; her mom is, of course, Motown diva Diana Ross. Go looking and you'll find that Tracee has no shortage of adventurous celeb outfits that prove older women can have so much fashion fun. 

While letting her style sing loudly, the younger Ross is also one of the women in Hollywood unafraid to comment on the harsh beauty standards that women are asked to live up to, especially as they get older. For her part, she seems to be taking it all in stride and choosing to adopt a grounded, self-assured attitude around aging and looks in general. So, who better than Ross to offer today's quote of the day that's just begging for a breakdown?

Tracee Ellis Ross has swung by the New York-based morning radio show "The Breakfast Club" more than once. During one visit, Ross said, "Our culture narrowly defines beauty and this idea that women are only objects and worthy of love if they match up to this ever-changing, always unattainable, arbitrary standard" (via Oprah Daily). Ross, as a 50-something in Hollywood, knows all too well the pressure placed on women, particularly after they've passed the age where society deems them as "hot." This wouldn't be the last time she'd offered thoughtful commentary on the strain placed on women's appearances, whether they're in or outside of the public eye.

Women and beauty have always had a complicated relationship, made more difficult by visual media. Now, oft-unachievable beauty standards are set by titans of industry for the appeasement of men. And to be sure, many women happily embrace some of those pretty things that make us feel beautiful and walk through the world a little taller. The point is that a woman herself is not just a pretty thing, and her worth as a human being shouldn't be dependent upon how she looks.

And these "arbitrary" standards tend to change with the seasons and across cultures. In Black and Latin cultures, a curvier figure has always been a good thing, for example. Elsewhere, round bums and va-va-voom curves only became queen post-Kim Kardashian. And, now, it seems, skinny is back "in." A woman could get whiplash trying to keep up with the Kardashians or whomever else. Tracee Ellis Ross seems to be unafraid to call out the absurdity. 

One celeb who can likely relate to Ross' unwillingness to conform to the mold is Cameron Diaz, who quit getting botox and the before-and-after pics are stunning. As far as we know, Ross hasn't done any work to her face, but she doesn't knock any women who have. On a July 2026 episode of the "Baby, This is Keke Palmer" podcast, the pair discussed aging necks, and Ross said she didn't want to be pulled too tight, but that she reserves the right to change her mind. "Catch me in five years and I might have a different f****ing story, and I don't want to hear [it]." There's a beauty standard we can get behind: One that's set from within, subject to change, and isn't confused with the true metrics of what makes a woman worthy.

• "Patriarchy can seep in in many ways and places no matter how sturdy you are in your soul."
• "I love the life in my face."
• "As a women, and as a Black woman, advocating for yourself is actually a form of resistance."
• "It's one thing to discover who you are, and it's another to have the courage to be that person."
• "A great outfit can be armor and a creative expression of how I want to feel, not always exactly how I feel."