Jennifer Aniston Slams Society's Views on Women: 'If We Don't Have a Baby or a Husband Then We're Useless'

Plus, Jennifer Aniston talks about returning to television

Jennifer Aniston continues to champion for a woman’s right to make her own choices.

During an interview with U.K. host Lorraine Kelly, the 47-year-old actress addressed the constant scrutiny surrounding her personal life, particularly why she hasn’t had children, and said she’s sick of women being branded as “useless” if they don’t meet society’s standards.

“We’re seeing women through that very narrow lens,” Aniston said. “If we don’t have a baby or a white picket fence or a husband, then we’re useless. We’re aren’t living up to our purpose.”

She continued, “It’s shocking to me that we are not changing the conversation.”

The Friends star spoke out against the harsh judgment of women in Hollywood in a powerful essay after she was forced to deny pregnancy rumors earlier this year.

She said in an interview with Marie Claire that she was simply fed up with feeling “shamed.”

“My marital status has been shamed; my divorce status was shamed; my lack of a mate had been shamed; my nipples have been shamed,” she said, referencing her marriage to Justin Theroux and 2005 split from Brad Pitt.

“It’s like, ‘Why are we only looking at women through this particular lens of picking us apart? Why are we listening to it?’ ” she continued. “I just thought: ‘I have worked too hard in this life and this career to be whittled down to a sad, childless human.’ ”

Although Aniston has successfully transitioned from TV actress to movie star, she told Chelsea Handler that she’s definitely down to return to the small screen — where she says women are more welcome nowadays.

“Television is where it’s at,” Aniston said. “I mean, I really do believe that the shows are more interesting, there’s more opportunity for women.”

And as for a Friends reunion movie? It’s probably not going to happen, she believes — in part due to social media.

“I think that period of time was sort of nostalgic, you know, there’s something about a time, and I think why people have such an affection for it,” Aniston said on Lorraine. “There was something about a time when our faces weren’t shoved into cellphones and we weren’t checking Facebook and Instagram. We were in a room together, or in a coffee shop together, and we’ve lost that.”