Sandra Bullock 'really scared' by media attacks on women over their appearance and age

'We are harming girls and women in a way, at a speed that it’s scaring me'

Sandra Bullock opted for bright colours when she attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala on Saturday

Sandra Bullock was recently seen smouldering on the front cover of People magazine from underneath the headline: ‘World’s Most Beautiful Woman, 2015”.

But the Oscar-winning actress says only agreed to appear on the front cover of the #MostBeautiful edition on the basis that she could focus the conversation on what her own perception of 'beautiful' was.

Bullock said the media's treatment of women in the film industry has led them to form a protective "tribe" in order to cope with the "onslaught" of negative comments about their appearance that begin the moment they step out in public.

A photo posted by People Magazine (@peoplemag) on Apr 22, 2015 at 4:51am PDT

Describing the damaging effect this obsession with ageing and beauty is having on women, she told E! “I feel like it’s become open hunting season in how women are attacked and it’s not because of who we are as people, it’s because of how we look or our age.

“I’m trying to raise a good man who values and appreciates women, and here we have this attack on women in the media that I don’t see a stop happening.

“I said if I can talk about the amazing women who I find beautiful, which are these women who rise above and take care of business and do wonderful things, and take care of each other, then I’m more than honoured to be on the cover of this.”

Bullock was most concerned with the effect the endless attacks on female appearance would have on the children growing up in the digital age.

“Little girls are having the hardest time with bullying and the internet," she said. "We need to stop. We are harming girls and women in a way, at a speed that it’s scaring me. It’s really scaring me.”