Image source: Sharon Stone’s Twitter Page
She has grace, beauty, and elegance. Her talent shines, and the accolades she has earned through 4 decades speak of an illustrious career. But more than that, I think it’s her resilience, positivity, courage, and perspective on life’s truths that sparkle bright. She is none other than American actress, producer, and former fashion model Sharon Stone. I happened to watch two of her interviews in the last couple of months in which she shares her fine grains of wisdom.
Sharon Stone voices that #MeToo is not just a Hollywood issue
Anytime we hear about the #MeToo movement, we tend to link it to the entertainment industry, to the media, and to the corporate world. Yet it is a social campaign against sexual abuse and harassment in any surrounding. Stone talks exactly along those lines in a very recent interview with CNN .
The actor explains that #MeToo gained prominence because women in Hollywood who had powerful voices were willing to risk their careers and speak out. However, it is something that doesn’t only start and end in Hollywood but begins in rich homes and poor homes and is a situation that needs to be handled efficiently.
Stone suggests that akin to lice checks that are performed in schools all the way from kindergarten and upwards, sexual abuse checks need to be conducted to safeguard children from predators. The process needs to be facilitated for their voices to be heard.
She says that #MeToo is about respecting women as well as men who have been abused. According to her, it’s a much bigger story than a Hollywood story, and it’s about protecting mostly children who have been abused in homes and all those people who are being molested. Stone voices that we need to look at the situation as a concerning global issue and address it far differently than how we have been handling it currently.
Resilience and courage define Sharon Stone
In a one-on-one interview with Oprah Winfrey in her Super Soul series, Sharon Stone is at her candid best. Her honesty surfaces when she opens up about a traumatic childhood. Her power of forgiveness looms large when she talks about making peace with her mother whom she had judged harshly for not protecting her.
A major stroke that Stone suffered in 2001 changed her life in more ways than one. Not only did her health suffer, but her career, fortune, family, and fame were all at stake. She talks to Oprah about her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice. The fact that forgiveness is a virtue she embodies becomes apparent when Stone promotes her book in the following tweet: “I have learned to forgive the unforgivable. My hope is by sharing my journey you too will learn the same.”
The book is aptly titled because it chronicles her journey as she strived to make her second innings in life in an environment which was not too kind. Courage is definitely the catch word in a situation where individuals need to brave the obstacles and grapple with the toxicity surrounding them. After recovering from her stroke, she had to face the aftermath of a mental state where she was lured into believing that she had lost her radiance and magnetism. She describes it as a vibrancy that “comes from health and well-being and well-being and youth”. Although it took her a while, she did garner the strength to hold herself together.
Aging gracefully
We see a confident woman emerging when Sharon Stone asserts to Oprah that in her 60s, she is not letting anyone take away her radiance again. She explains that there is societal pressure mounting over us as we grow older. We are made to feel that our worth has diminished. She contradicts this notion by maintaining that it is instead a time in which our status is enhanced to the maximum level. “I think when we’re 40 as women, we get to this incredibly powerful place.” A major realization that has dawned on her during the pandemic is that she would not allow others to define her worth.
Through her vulnerability, Sharon Stone has rediscovered herself. She is a living example of fortitude and strength and an inspiration to many to not give up and to face the storm with calm and ease. Here’s to wishing this superwoman many, many years of health and happiness!
( This article was featured in Women’s Web )
rashmi writes 
Good article. In addition to being such a public voice for the me too movement and working to stop child abuse and that of women, Sharon has also been a strong advocate for gender equality in front of, and behind the camera. Several of the latest films she was in, in which she was one of the producers, are evident of the strides she is helping to make in the movie industry.
Aging is not losing youth but an opportunity to embark on a new stage of experience, poise and stength…very well written to inspire people not to regret growing older…Sharon Stone is a maverick inspiration.