She said the label didn’t just attract attention, it distorted it. Some men were intimidated. Others were overly confident, assuming access or entitlement. Very few, she noted, seemed interested in slowing down enough to actually know her.

The irony, Fox pointed out, is that the same culture that elevated her as a symbol simultaneously stripped away her humanity. She was praised and objectified in the same breath, leaving little room to exist as complex, flawed, or emotionally nuanced.

Psychologists who study celebrity culture have long argued that extreme sexualization can flatten identity. When someone becomes a symbol, people stop engaging with who they are and start interacting with what they represent. That effect can be especially isolating in romantic settings, where authenticity matters most.

Fox has spoken before about feeling young and unprotected when fame hit. At the time, she didn’t have the tools or power to push back against how she was marketed. Years later, she’s still dealing with the relational consequences of that era.