By Saira Khan • 11 years ago

Daily dose of sexism – Kristen Stewart


A SYTYCB entry

I don’t really give a damn that someone from Twilight cheated on some else from Twilight. We don’t know the inner workings of any relationship and we have no reason to judge anyone. What I do care about, however, is how it’s being handled and the media attention.

Men also lie, cheat, and abuse all the time. We are all humans and we are all flawed. But Hollywood men seem to be immune to any real scrutiny when it comes to these things. They are hardly ever reprimanded or treated the way Kristen Stewart is being treated. Not only is the media dragging her name in the mud and her fans turning on her, she was fired from the Snow White sequel whereas the man that she cheated with seems to still have his job (on the same film she was fired from might I add).

Let’s not forget that Roman fucking Polanski allegedly raped and drugged a minor and then ran away; he has received multiple Oscar nominations since then.

Christian Bale assaulted his mother and his sister; no one really cared. In fact, the media kinda blamed the mother and sister for the attack.

Chad Johnson head-butted his wife and was fired from his job (rightly so, domestic violence is horrible) but he still has the media and the people on his side.

Brad Pitt cheated on Jennifer Aniston and I didn’t see him getting fired from any jobs.

Don’t even get me started on Charlie Sheen…

What I find interesting about this whole fiasco is that while Kristen Stewart is being slammed and fired from a film,  there’s no attention on Rupert Sanders, the guy that broke his marriage vows (you know the vows that pertain to the sanctity of marriage) and he surely isn’t getting fired from any jobs. Not that I think there should be any attention on any of them but why the imbalance? Furthermore, Kristen Stewart was fired from a film because she cheated on her boyfriend? Does anyone else see a problem with this aside from the blatant sexism? Do we fire people from jobs now simply because they made a mistake in their relationship? She isn’t a politician, she isn’t a drug addict, she isn’t physically or sexually abusive…

Jodie Foster who worked with Stewart in 2001 came to Stewart’s defense:

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: if I were a young actor today I would quit before I started. If I had to grow up in this media culture, I don’t think I could survive it emotionally. I would only hope that someone who loved me, really loved me, would put their arm around me and lead me away to safety. Sarah Tobias would never have danced before her rapists in The Accused. Clarice would never have shared the awful screaming of the lambs to Dr. Lecter. Another actress might surely have taken my place, opened her soul to create those characters, surrendered her vulnerabilities. But would she have survived the paparazzi peering into her windows, the online harassment, the public humiliations, without overdosing in a hotel room or sticking her face with needles until she became unrecognizable even to herself?

Seriously guys, how sick of a society are we that we care so much about someone’s personal life. Not only that but we make it a point to add to their suffering. Skim the comments on any article or blog post about this whole affair and the things that people are saying about Stewart should make your skin crawl.

I know we all have our flaws but come on people, let’s pick ourselves up and out of the gutter.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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