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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-29-07 10:03 PM
Original message
What is with...?
...the mean, hostile posts about young female celebrities?

If I had cameras following me 24/7 when I was in my twenties, I assure you there would have been some footage that would embarass me today. I assure you, I would have looked marginally insane on a good day.


Pardon the rant. I just don't get how so many seem to take such joy in trashing these girls.
Ok. I'm done. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

:rant:
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Aug-29-07 11:17 PM
Response to Original message
1. Funny you should post that. I was actually feeling sorry for Britney Spears today.
I'm on the elliptical rider at the gym, and there's an US Magazine left on the one next to me. Against my better judgement, I picked it up and started thumbing through it. There's this article in there about what a Horrible Mother she is. Based on the random, assorted opinions of people who neither know her personally, nor have any firsthand observation of her interacting with her children. Nope, they are going off of paparazzi photos that don't seem to show anything out of the ordinary with the kids. But they're interspersed with photos of her dressed to go out or for a photo shoot. I'm guessing the idea is supposed to be that she is too Slutty! and Weird! to be a decent mom.

Some things never change and it makes me so mad. A guy can be a total raging, abusive, alcoholic drama king but if he shows the slightest interest in his progeny he is lionized. David Hasselhoff was filmed on a bizarre pathetic drunken rampage and Alec Baldwin called his daughter a pig. I remember the preponderence of the response to them on this board being sympathetic. But Kim Basinger was a treacherous bitch, although there was no proof that she had anything to do with that recording being released. And I guaran-damn-tee if you took a poll in GD or the lounge about who should get custody of Britney's boys, the overwhelming majority would pick that wannabe rapper babydaddy-to-3-other-women loser she married.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-30-07 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Thank you...!
...for helping me to feel sane. Oh, and you nailed it. I was responding to a thread about Ms. Spears. I feel sorry for her, too. You also get bonus points for knowing that people think wannabe-rapper boy should get custody...apparently because Brit picked a bad outfit, and has cellulite on her thighs. :shrug:

Back in the days of major Hollywood spin, many refused to believe that Joan Crawford abused two of her adoptive children (Chris and Christina). Why? Because she was a huge star. She had a large fan base that loved her and there were all those (publicity) photos showing her smiling with her children. :eyes: Surely she HAD to be a great parent. Everyone could see that in the photos. Even though the daughter that lived through the abuse stating otherwise. Why believe her, when their image of Joan Crawford didn't match the reality. Screw what the kid said.

Now some photos showing Britney Spears dressed in a way some wouldn't choose for themselves comes to light. Immediately she's the devil incarnate, definitely a bad parent.

:wtf:
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Katherine Brengle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 11:15 AM
Response to Reply #1
8. Ah, to be a mother in a world that
will not, under any circumstances, give you a frigging break.

Britney Spears is younger than I am and has 2 babies with a total loser. She was tossed into the limelight to be a musical sextoy without knowing shit about the world, and now we (society in general) expect her to be some sort of Martha Stewart meets June Cleaver in a minidress.

There is little I hate more in the world than the idea that a mother is anything other than a woman who has birthed a child (or taken one into her care).

We are not turned into mythical magical all-perfect beings the moment that child enters the world.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 03:05 PM
Response to Reply #8
11. Very well said...!
:applause:

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Katherine Brengle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 10:45 AM
Response to Reply #11
15. *takes a bow*
:)
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La Lioness Priyanka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-30-07 07:09 AM
Response to Original message
3. i fucking hate it.
its crass, sexist and imo reveals jealousy.

when i had a hot/well toned body i barely wore clothes either.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-30-07 04:52 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. I hadn't considered that--good point...
Edited on Thu Aug-30-07 05:02 PM by bliss_eternal
...jealousy. And I hear you on the wearing next to nothing thing. ;) Been there, done that.

On edit (after I thought about it a bit), I wonder how many women that condemn her and other young women have engaged in similar activities in their youth?
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La Lioness Priyanka Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 08:10 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. exactly.
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ismnotwasm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-30-07 07:14 PM
Response to Original message
5. Dunno
But it's pretty shitty. I hear it justified as the price of fame, but I don't buy it. And I agree, easy to get pictures of a skirt that needs to be yanked down, or a greater than normal shot of cleavage, or mascara than needs a touch, up, whatever, when you have photographers after you all the time.

I dislike mean people.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 03:02 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. There is an inherent meanness to it all, isn't there?
Like you, I don't buy that it's the price of fame. There was a time that you wouldn't see such pictures or headlines anywhere other than in The Globe or the National Enquirer--the known "trash" or "gossip" periodicals.

Having grown up in the "information age" I've also seen this whole "culture of celebrity" grow and develop. I recall when Entertainment Tonight premiered. That was in a time that if you wanted to see a celebrity interviewed you had to stay up and watch The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. If the star had fallen from grace or had hard times, maybe you could catch them on Donahue.

The Academy Awards didn't have ten pre-shows and four post-shows. There weren't jobs and careers made on the shoulders of celebrities (paparazzi stalkers, reality tv, stylists, entertainment reporters, etc.) Some of these things existed, but we weren't over inundated with them. There weren't any award show gift bags, filled to the rim with items by manufacturers hopeful that a celebrity will like and be spotted wearing their item.

In my opinion there is an inherent danger when jobs, merchandise and even people are only seen to have value when they can somehow be linked (or endorsed by) a celebrity. (But I'm getting off topic a bit. Sorry I could go on and on about this issue, but I won't bore anyone ;))

With each new celebrity focused show, magazine and blog the whole thing has become more invasive, more exploitative, crueler and nastier in my opinion. I just wish our society could see it for what it is, and stop feeling so entitled to the inner workings of celebrity lives. They are after all human beings, too.

If normal people were forced to live their lives with cameras shoved at them 24/7, and saw some unflattering photos of themselves plastered everywhere, I have a feeling their stance would change.
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femrap Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-30-07 10:06 PM
Response to Original message
6. I feel sorry for Brittany....she needs one
huge lesson in Feminism. It would give her some peace of mind. I always wished Marilyn Monroe would have had Feminism. What this culture does to young women makes me sick. The culture wants her to be sexy, yet she is punished for it. No matter what a woman does, it's wrong.

And does anyone say one thing about the asshole she had children with? Didn't he have another woman pregnant at the same time? So who's the slut? I don't even know what his name is. But I'd bet money that he is going after the children so he can keep his name in the papers and on TV. And I doubt if he was smart enough to come up with the idea.

And even Olberman goes after her....I have written him a couple of times about it. I swear this hatred and humiliation of women comes from the top.....the CEOs of these Media conglomerates have made it POLICY to ridicule women.

Thx for the OP....this has been on my mind for a while now.

Oh...just one more thing...Brittany has been in show biz since a child...always told to be cute and sexy. No wonder she is imploding. Same with the other young woman...is it Lindsay?....in and out of rehab. Hell, I'd be doing drugs, too.

Damn...your post got me going. Feel better now.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 02:46 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. I was mulling over that aspect, too...
...the fact that she's always been striving for stardom. How would anyone develop as a human being when they've spent the better part of their life focused on entertaining people and becoming a star?

When that much of a person's focus is spent on any one thing, something else is bound to suffer. Maybe she doesn't have great decision making skills, but how would she? Her life's been about making the next deal, doing the next show, being seen, getting noticed, etc. It's all very outward focused and superficial. She became a star when most people are just starting to explore who they are and what they want out of life.

She didn't get to "date" or test the relationship waters and see what that was about. She hasn't had an opportunity to learn about men. Of course she'd marry some idiot that danced for her.

Which brings me to him, and thank you for bringing up Mr. Federline. I believe you're right about his history. His prior GIRLFRIEND was pregnant with their next child when he hooked up with Britney. It is rumored that Britney bought the young woman a home (perhaps feeling badly about the guy's choice--so SHE tried to compensate for it :eyes:).

Oh and may I say, I see him as a total opportunist? I think he wants their children because he's eager to maintain the lifestyle that being Mr. Spears has afforded him, making bad rap albums and shopping in Beverly Hills boutiques. It's not like he wanted his other children. :eyes: So it pains me to see people vilify her and suddenly exalt him. As if he didn't SUCK before, :shrug:

You know, when Heather was divorcing Paul McCartney and asking for substantial amounts of money in the settlement SHE was a gold digger (among other unsavory terms). I avoided the threads here like the plague, they were very ugly and mean.

:wtf: Does the label not apply because we are talking about a guy?

There's a looooong history of men attaching themselves to women with money and status to care for them, but NO ONE seems to talk about it. I can't tell you how many profiles of women in old Hollywood I've watched, where the woman trusted her husband to care for her career/finances, only to wake up one day to find he'd gambled and/or drank it all away. Leaving the woman to re-build her life, finances, late in life. Frequently when they are less popular or older and not considered "bankable" by the industry. But over and over again, women did it successfully(a couple of examples that come to mind are Doris Day and Betty Grable).

There's also Parker Stevenson, the former Hardy Boys star that won a hefty alimony settlement from Kirstie Alley, as if he couldn't go out and work. :eyes:
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femrap Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #9
13. Federline...yes, that's the little
untalented guy's name...to me he'll be Mr. Britney. Never does the guy garner such mean viciousness as the press gives to the woman.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it said that Senator Vitter paid prostitutes to put him in diapers? That was in the news for a day, maybe. But the woman astronaut who drove to confront the 'other woman' in a diaper was in the press for days. I was really amazed at what I thought was a obsession about this woman in a diaper....at least it had a practical purpose vs. what Vitter was doing in a diaper...geez!

The consciousness of our culture is so hateful toward women...thank you pron and Murdoch along with the neocons. I've long said that the only war going well for bush is his War Against Women.

Hey....remember Donna Reed? She was quite a successful business woman and actress.

I remember the affair of Eddie Fisher and Liz Taylor...and at the time, I thought Eddie got as much flack as Liz...I was a child at the time and maybe that was what I WANTED to hear.



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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 09:33 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher...
...(thank you, I was trying to recall Debbie earlier) She was one of the women I've heard of that had to overcome a man mismanaging her money. That was the guy after Eddie.

I wasn't around for Eddie and Debbie's time together. But I'll be honest, I STILL hear (and read) nasty remarks about Liz and that situation. Hardly a word is uttered about Eddie. It's like Liz did it all alone. :crazy:

Great point about the diaper stories. I'd forgotten about that poor woman astronaut. I thought that story about her was awful and I felt bad for her. I failed to see why the diaper was relevant. It just seemed a point they stressed for the sake of sensationalism, and again because it was a woman. "Let's show how desperate this woman was...she (gasp) had diapers!" :eyes:

What about the viciousness of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Clinton was villified and drug through the mud because he was a Democrat. Had he been a republican, I assure you no one even would have blinked (or cared). But as much as we watched him go through he still faded to the foreground, compared to what poor Monica went through. The media painted that girl as an evil harlot, a home wrecker that seduced the president, instead of a young naive girl--which is what she seemed to be. Everytime she got an interview, book deal, magazine cover--she was a press wh*r*, milking her situation. :banghead: Instead of someone trying to make the best of the situation and get on w/her life. It's not like she could go out and get a job after that mess. Who on earth would hire her? What else was she supposed to do to make a living?
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femrap Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #14
21. Yes, Monica got a very bad deal....
Years later, I heard some conspiracy theories about her. I guess we'll never know what happened.

But Clinton's behavior really hurt Gore in the election of '00. I had thought Clinton should have resigned allowing Gore to settle in as Prez and give people a chance to see him lead...but NOOOOOOOO Clinton had his ego to think of, I guess. And now look where we are. Hey, I sound like a repugnant...I'm blaming Clinton...lol!
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mrreowwr_kittty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #9
17. I've never understood why so many men are getting alimony
Or at least it seems that way. At the same time, the number of women who get spousal maintenance is steadily decreasing. The whole idea behind it is that women typically need the support to get back on their feet, due to usually having put careers on hold to assume the homemaker and caregiver role, and our lower earning power in general. The only time I could see where a male should get alimony is if he ran the house and took on a supportive role for his wife so she could excel in her career. This isn't usually the case with the male alimony cases I've seen.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 04:53 PM
Response to Reply #17
18. True.
Edited on Sat Sep-01-07 05:00 PM by bliss_eternal
In the Kirstie Alley vs. Parker Stevenson case, he was a "house husband", so to speak. She was in demand at the time, so he (perhaps by default)stayed home w/their kids. But I don't get the sense this was the typical staying home with the kids, they were celebrities after all. It was argued (I read somewhere) that he hadn't worked in years by the time of their divorce. So he asked for custody of the kids and spousal support.

So I guess it could be argued that he fits your criteria as one that took on the caregiver role, but again they were celebrities. So I doubt he was cleaning, cooking and shuffling kids to and from soccer practice all the time. He could have, I suppose. But he probably had domestic support for that stuff while he focused on primary care of their children.

Some people like to bring up Chris Judd and J-lo. I didn't get the sense that was the same thing. I believe J-lo was paying for Judd's silence after their brief marriage, given how her prior husbands came forward to trash her when her career was on the rise and her relationships and choices were media fodder. I read that Judd didn't sue her for money, or request a pay out. She gave it--possibly part of an agreement prior to marriage (for his silence). Possibly out of guilt for leaving him so quickly for another guy. :shrug:

Speaking of J-Lo, yet another example of a woman the world seemed to LOVE to trash. :eyes:

How many men have had multiple marriages? Marriages to younger women? Left women after brief romances (even marriages) for others? Men that met women on film sets, got into their role as lovers on set and it turned into an affair because they supposedly fell passionately in love? Too many to count, and no one even blinks. But with J-lo...she was some career climbing, opportunist. The whole thing leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Meg Ryan's fall from grace anyone?
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Ellen Forradalom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-31-07 08:19 PM
Response to Original message
12. Everyone has an inherent dignity
that needs to be respected.

I doubt that Britney has ever experienced that.
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Katherine Brengle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 10:47 AM
Response to Reply #12
16. Indeed.
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bliss_eternal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 05:02 PM
Response to Reply #12
19. Absolutely!
But people seem to forget that in the process, as if as someone's monetary status and worth grows greater, their worth as human beings suddenly diminishes.
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Ellen Forradalom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Sep-01-07 07:43 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. And if you're young, female
and unsophisticated like Brit, your perceived worth is not great to begin with :-(
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