My girlfriend is a smart, sophisticated, successful woman. She makes more money than me, has a better job than me, went to a better college than me. She reads the entire newspaper every day while I play videogames. She has traveled to places I could barely locate on a map (who takes a vacation to Croatia?). I ask for and follow her advice about any number of things, because she is as street smart as they come. Baby has her shit together on levels I can't even fathom.
But the celebrity schadenfreude thing makes no sense.
Baby has tried to explain it to me. She hates these women because they're stupid. She resents that they're rich and famous for having no discernible talent beyond perfect skin and a great rack. She cannot stand that the world worships these women as if they're perfection, when on closer inspection they're glorified tramps. So she revels in the stories of their imperfection. She wants to take the piss out of them, because she feels like they get too much attention. In her eyes it's a slap in the face to the hard working women of the real world who don't have the time/money/resources and most of all luck to be starlets. And that makes sense. I appreciate the solidarity angle. Men are pigs, and these women are tramps. I get it. Only here is the thing- you broads are the reason why these broads are famous.
Men don't care. Well, straight men don't. We see these women on TV or in the movies and we think, 'Wow, she is hot.' But really, that's the end of it. We don't care about her favorite food or where she shops or where she puts her baby when she drives. We might fantasize about them, but the fantasy is dirty and short lived and not fit for print. We don't care about the personal details of their lives- we don't want to know. Because that ruins it for us. We know they're fake. We know they're just the fantasy. We're fine with that. You start adding details and it becomes more like real life. Where is the fun in that? Here is proof. I've got no idea how many men are using the internet to look at porn, but I'm willing to venture it's a lot. Do you think we care what these women's names are? Of course not. Are these women household names? No. There is a reason the stories in Playboy aren't about the girls in Playboy. Nobody cares.
So that makes us assholes, because we're treating these women like objects. We've got no respect for their feelings. We're supporting an industry that takes advantage of them, that puts them in a poor light, that degrades women.
Ok ladies, now explain to me how that's different from what you're doing.
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2 comments:
you lost me twice on this post:
1. using the phrase "take the piss out of them." i have an issue with americans using britishisms. "pardon me, i just need to ring one of my mates on my mobile, but i'll wait until i get off the left and that loud lorry passes." grrr.
2. calling woman broads. and as a woman who has never purchased anything having to do with britney spears, don't blame me for her fame.
i didn't even realize that that was a british phrase. but then again, that's probably a whole other post, isn't it? jeez.
the broads part is obviously a joke. who even says broads anymore?
and my argument about the fame goes beyond just buying her records (or whatever else she is hawking). you're actively participating in the engine that creates her celebrity. the magazines, the tv shows, the blogs. you're an active participant. without that audience, these things wouldn't exist.
and my question is- is britney's poor parenting (or any other celebrity scandal) any worse than an entire group of people who genuinely revel in humiliating others? what's the greater sin in the long run? wearing the wrong outfit, or taking joy in pointing out that they've worn the wrong outfit. lord knows i don't want the microscope that's held up to these people's lives applied to my own. do you?
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