In response to a recent fire storm of criticism regarding an appearance where her face looked puffy in photos, sparking rumors about plastic surgery or cosmetic fillers, Ashley Judd penned a heartfelt piece for The Daily Beast to address the pointedly nasty, gendered, and misogynistic comments written about her appearance.

It would have been easy to let this Conversation simply fade away, replaced by latest media cycle news, Judd tweeted on Monday.

However, it was so sexist & mean, & indicative of what all girls & women live w/ daily, that I decided to write about it. Join The Conversation, she tweeted with a link to the article she wrote for The Daily Beast.

In the article entitled Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation Over Her 'Puffy Appearance, Judd cites an article from Us Weekly, calling the reporting, along with other reports from March an assault on female body images.

The assault on our body image, the hypersexualization of girls and women and subsequent degradation of our sexuality as we walk through the decades, and the general incessant objectification is what this conversation allegedly about my face is really about, Judd wrote.

Judd then delineated the conclusions the media made about her, including the puffy face which she said was based on being sick on medication for a month, her flawless face at age 43, her lament that 'Ashley has lost her familiar beauty audiences loved her for,' weight gain and vicious conversation about her face while in a dramatic scene in 'Missing.'

Moreso, Judd was infuriated much of the conversation about her face was begun by women.

A case in point is that this conversation was initially promulgated largely by women; a sad and disturbing fact, Judd wrote. That women are joining in the ongoing disassembling of my appearance is salient.

Furthermore, Judd wrote that our culture, herself include, has become obsessed with commenting on women's looks.

This abnormal obsession with women's faces and bodies has become so normal that we (I include myself at times-I absolutely fall for it still) have internalized patriarchy almost seamlessly, she wrote. We are unable at times to identify ourselves as our own denigrating abusers, or as abusing other girls and women.

The point of her 1,500-word rant was to open new conversation stemming from the misogynistic one about her.

I hope the sharing of my thoughts can generate a new conversation: Why was a puffy face cause for such a conversation in the first place? Judd asks. If this conversation about me is going to be had, I will do my part to insist that it is a feminist one, because it has been misogynistic from the start.

The insanity has to stop, Judd concludes. Join in-and help change-the Conversation.

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