Women are the primary purchasers of these tabloids, and make up about 90% of the "celebrity blog" readership. Is it really a feminist issue if it's mostly women who are entertained by the "Hollywood Girls Gone Wild" stories?

Why would that disqualify it from being a feminist issue?

The media has BEEN obsessed with the antics of these girls, good, bad or otherwise. So the coverage of their alleged downfalls or mishaps fits in neatly with the entire celebutant scheme.

However, to answer your question, I think this IS a feminist issue with an interesting twist. The article questions whether or not these ladies' mothers are to blame for their bad, bad behavior. And sadly enough, mothers are still credited more with the moral upbringing of the children than fathers. However, since all three of these ladies are over the age of 18, the REAL question is why can't they control themselves by now?
Feminism also encompasses personal responsibility and it intrigues me that the media is hesitant to place the blame where it belongs...on the individuals. Plenty of people in Hollywierd party to no end and true enough, everyone makes mistakes. But what gives with the string of DUIs, coke in the pockets and trips to the gas station with no panties? La Perla not doing it for ya anymore?

The media STILL rags on Nick Nolte for his ever drunken antics and there was a time when Johnny Depp wasn't such a role model...
Time for the titillating trio to hire post-party drivers and body doubles if they can't change their behavior. Cause the media's not going anywhere.

alex,
it's not just the tabloids that are reporting these stories- they are on cnn and other "reputable" networks constantly. remember anna nicole's death and the media circus surrounding paris hilton's arrest? i would be extremely hesitant to say it's mostly women who are "entertained" by this.

SarahMC: That's pretty much subjective since no two people have the exact same definition of a "feminist issue"... personally, this doesn't seem like a feminist issue, but rather a depressing reflection of our society's media as a whole...

Azliza: Same as above, it's a reflection of the media as a whole. The reason I mentioned the tabloids and the celebrity blogs is because those are the people who actively SEEK that type of news exclusively. Many people I know are completely turned off by having those types of stories on what are supposed to be real news stations/papers, but that is the current state of mainstream media.

Is it a feminist issue? I don't think so. I think it's a media issue, but at a deeper level, it's a reflection of just how far down this vapid road our culture has taken us.

Personally, I feel sickened to be constantly bombarded by the images and stories concerning the ups and downs of these celebrities. The feminist issue, for me, is the message that is being conveyed by all this coverage. A few nights ago I was flipping through the tv and made the terrible choice of watching some of the Enews. I shit you not, they were touting the alcohol ankle bracelets as the 'hot new accesory'. Really.
Maybe its only me, but what kind of message is that?! Sure, the station was probably only attempting to be ironic, but I am uncertain. Why do we never hear about the actresses that acomplish great things? All we read about are coke noses, baby adoption, baby bumps, or which boyfriend this one stole from that one.
great reading for all.

alex, then maybe the question should be why is this coverage so mainstream? I argue that it's a feminist issue because people are getting off on seeing famous women in bad situations more than men. why is that? i don't know. maybe people enjoy seeing women fail more?

These women don't represent me in any way. I couldn't care less about the way they are treated in the media. Their own actions are what land them in such turmoil. If you all you've ever really done is drive drunk, get into petty feuds, make crappy records, and release several sex tapes what is there to admire and respect? I think it's a good sign that society shows such disdain for these celebs. Just because they are talked about doesn't mean they are well-liked. Every woman I know is disgusted by them, and most guys think they are skanks. They are the perfect examples of how not to behave. They just get so much attention because people generally don't look the other way when there is a trainwreck.

I think it's a media issue

And the media, which bombards us all and affects our views, is a feminist issue. So...

I actually read these blogs. I'm a guy, and I guess that puts me somewhat out of the odds. I can safely say that it isn't because of any fetish or attraction to these troubled women- it's the fact that at heart, I hate these people, and a sad part of my soul deeply enjoys watching them suffer.

Good luck on getting most people to admit it, but that's why I read them. That's why my girlfriend reads them. That's why everybody I've talked to about them reads them- we enjoy watching people in misery, especially when those people are rich and famous. And I'm an equal opportunity hater- earlier this morning I was laughing at Steve Martin, and my favorite celebrity trainwreck is the pathetic drug addict (that I feel no pity for), Pete Doherty.

Does this make a terrible human being? Possibly. Does it make me a sexist? Not in the slightest. You said, azliza, that you didn't know why, but the guess that you ventured with was that "people enjoyed watching women fail more." Your guess was incorrect, and only makes me wonder if you approached the issue wanting it to be a feminist issue.

And SarahMC, the situation with the media in the US goes so far beyond feminism it's just point-blank wrong to say that the media is currently a feminist issue. It's an incredible sociopolitical issue that goes far beyond the realm of sexism and gender. FOX news is hurting a lot of other things than just women, although women are certainly in their line of fire. I think this is a media issue, and while some media issues are indeed feminist issues, I don't think this is one of them.

I think it's a good sign that society shows such disdain for these celebs.

Society obsesses over these celebs. Society drools over the E! channel and tsk, tsk's. Little girls want to grow up to be just like Paris Hilton. These women are simultaneously worshipped and scolded. How society (men, women & children) thinks about "trainwrecks" like them is most DEFINITELY a feminist issue.

dbshawn - might the reason the mothers get brought into the debate over these women in particular be because their mothers have done so much to be part of their daughters' public lives? I don't recall much ever being said about Nicole Richie's mother, but Lindsey's mother was her manager at one point, and Britney's mother was long touted as her "best friend," if not her manager as well.

Similarly, you can't read an article about Jessica Simpson without a reference being made to her manager-father's creepy comment about the size of her breasts.

Alex, dude, just because the media is a complex issue that goes beyond sex and gender doesn't mean it doesn't INCLUDE sex and gender. What do you even think we mean when we refer to the "bad-girl-obsession" as a feminist issue? It doesn't mean, "If you buy US magazine you're sexist." That's how you seem to be interpreting it.
You're getting defensive about reading celebrity gossip blogs, which isn't necessary. Because "it's a feminist issue" doesn't mean what you apparently think it does.

what's the evidence for my "guess" being incorrect, other than your own personal experience of reading gossip blogs (again, not MSM).

SarahMC, I think you need to read what I said more carefully. I'm sorry for being snarky, but if you read what I just said about the media/feminism, you'll see that you just scolded me for agreeing with you.

As for the interpretations, if you could actually clarify what it meant for it be a feminist issue, perhaps the issue would become much clearer to me.

And azliza, when you say something but my personal experience clearly contradicts it, I would say that- from my point of view- what you said is clearly incorrect. If you're not looking from my point of view, you may form whatever judgement you wish. But if you wish to form a more accurate assessment, listening to a first-hand source might be helpful.

That was my point- what you said (my thought that maybe people like to see women fail more than they do men was incorrect) was clearly from your own vantage point, and not backed up by anything other than your own point of view.
thanks for clarifying.

SarahMC, but the media reports on Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan because the public is fascinated with them. In a market economy, if there's a demand for widgets, someone will be willing to sell you some.

Besides, feministing is part of the media as well.

Oh, I think that this is absolutely a feminist issue. Just because the media is completely screwed up and there are aspects to be concerned about from other frameworks as well doesn't mean that it isn't also a feminist issue.

The ways that tabloids and media journalism in general approach famous women is absolutely a feminist issue. I think that it's absolutely related to what alex is saying, in a sense: "I can safely say that it isn't because of any fetish or attraction to these troubled women- it's the fact that at heart, I hate these people, and a sad part of my soul deeply enjoys watching them suffer."

I think that there are several things happening, but I think that one of the things that happens it that there's a general variation on the whole "see that uppity bitch put in her place"ism that takes place. I think that there's a lot of indulging hate that goes on in the tabloid media. Women in the tabloids can't do anything right- they may be media darlings briefly, but the tabloids are constantly looking for things to beat them down with. If you're not out partying it up so they can make you look like a fool, then you're too fat or too skinny or you're not dressed up enough or you're wearing an ulgy outfit or you're dating a loser or you're cheating, etc, etc, etc. The standards of behavior for men and women in the Hollywood scene or so ridiculously different. If a woman goes out and gets drunk and is stumbling a little bit, the press are all over it. Am I to believe that there aren't dozens of men in Hollywood who get shit-faced every weekend? And nobody complains when a guy does these things as though he has an obligation to be a role model. People get outraged, outraged when someone like Spears shows some sexuality, because she's supposed to be a role model for young women, but her male counterparts can do whatever they want, and nobody screams "but the children!"

I think azliza is absolutely right, though- there's a definitely feeling of wanting to see women fail. People take a malicious delight in seeing women like Hilton "get theres" in ways that men rarely have to deal with.

I think there is always a great deal of popular interest in rich and/or people behaving badly. But the emphasis on "girls" (not women, even when they're 40 and have 2 kids) behaving badly allows both an opportunity to ogle the babes, and sneering condescension. It is a feminist issue because major news channels are covering the minor misadventures of these women as if they were significant, and almost always this stuff is covered as yet another fault of feminism. Male celebrities who screw up are asshats who screw up. Female celebrities who screw up are bad role models and an indication of how an entire generation of females are going to hell.

Every woman I know is disgusted by them, and most guys think they are skunks

In other words, women respond to the news coverage by distancing themselves as far as possible within the gender, and men care only if they are adequate sperm receptacles.

And it’s definitely a feminist issue because male celebs are treated quite differently by the media and the public. The message is that as a woman you should look a certain way and present yourself a certain way (“sexy�, “wild�, etc. ), and that’s the only way people are going to pay any attention to you. But if you behave that way and do what we’re encouraging you to do, we are going to ridicule you. No matter what you do you just can’t win, because you are a woman.

Mine was based on personal experience, whereas yours was based on apparently nothing beyond your suspicions that people enjoyed watching female celebrities in turmoil for the sole reason that they were female... rather than, yknow, the fact that they're filthy rich, lazy, racist, stupid beyond words, and basically the embodiment of all that is wrong in our society today. Or, yknow, it could be because they're women, because, well, you said so.

Color me unconvinced.

“rather than, yknow, the fact that they're filthy rich, lazy, racist, stupid beyond words, and basically the embodiment of all that is wrong in our society today.�
Eh? I suppose there aren’t any men with the same qualification. Or is it just that you can’t stand women who are filthy rich? Why don’t people talk about that scumbag Joe Francis all the time?

the difference is that mine was a guess, and yours was an assertion that i was wrong. if you want to call reading celeb blogs "personal experience," then i have tons of personal experience too.

roymac- i think you hit it on the head. there's something that's much more scandalous to people about women partying and being irresponsible. the media definitely latches onto party-goers of both sexes, but the outcome is much different: colin farrell getting arrested is a "boys-will-be-boys" shrug, where paris hilton getting arrested is a "that dumb slut!" take.

SarahMC, but the media reports on Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan because the public is fascinated with them. In a market economy, if there's a demand for widgets, someone will be willing to sell you some.

Oh, of course! And because there's a market for it, it can't be a feminist issue! How silly of me!

Gah.

Look, just because the market can sustain or profit by something doesn't mean that it's not of social concern, nor does it mean that it's not a feminist issue. There's a market for just about anything, but sometimes we recognize that the social ills from a particular commodity outweigh whatever perceived economic benefit there might be.

I promise you, there's a market for child labor. If they could, lots of businesses would employ children in a heartbeat. That doesn't mean that it shouldn't concern us or that we should turn a blind eye to it if a business starts pushing for relaxing child labor laws.

I think the reason that I see it as a potentially feminist issue is that the actions of these girls may be perceived or justified by some as being "feminist," but that those beliefs stem from misunderstanding of what feminism really means.

The article theorizes that one of the reasons for this obsession with "bad girls" is a "reflection of the generally increasing power and visibility of women in all fields of entertainment." I don't really agree with this theory - it sounds to me like its blaming feminism, in a sense, for the fact that these women are in the spotlight, instead of pointing out that it is the isolated actions of a few women in particular and not reflective of the all women involved in the industry.

It bothers me that people might interpret the prevalence of these women in the media as connected to feminism - because I don't believe that these women really represent what it means to be feminist.

sojourner, I already stated above that I enjoy reading about both male and female celebrities. My favorite celebrity trainwreck, as I said above, is Pete Doherty.

I'm going to chime in and say that I think the current political climate also plays a part in why we're seeing so much of this (sorry if I'm repeating anyone). With this administration no one wants to show what's really happening so to have tabloids become "news" is a great way to distract people and it seems like the public doesn't even mind, they'd rather keep track of the goings on of these girls than actually deal with reality.

UltraMagnus, I'd agree. I think that our current political climate has the strongest influence on what goes into the news, and tabloids work perfectly in conjunction with the current decline of actual news.

Which little girls know who Paris Hilton is? Where are they getting the idea that she is something to aspire to?

In a word: schadenfreude.

Apparently a lot of people consider it entertaining to when a beautiful woman gets imprisioned and punished. There should be a movie...

Kaethe- one of those little girls is my 6-year-old niece, who thinks that Paris looks like one of her Bratz dolls and must be something to aspire to because she is always on the television, therefore she must be important.

azliza, thanks. I knew there was a reason I don't watch the news: I'm protecting the children.

Derek, the fact that there's a huge market for celebrity gossip like this is a feminist issue.

Trash is trash regardless of gender. Male "celebs" are looked at poorly if they are seen as being worthless party boys. Look at Brody Jenner and Spencer Pratt. They're just as despised as Paris Hilton(and rightly so), and no one likes Joe Francis either. The guy is scum. I also don't think you can compare Colin Farrell to Paris Hilton. His female counterpart is more like Angelina Jolie or Scarlett Johansson.

Who and who, Nicole?

I've never even heard of Brody Jenner or Spencer Pratt. Joe Francis is despised by feminists, but there's nowhere near the negative press about him that there is around Hilton or Lohan. And, quite frankly, he does a lot more harm than either of them do. He's scum, but the only time there's really bad press around him is when he finally goes to freakin' prison, or when a feminist is complaining. Otherwise, he's treated with a certain sort of light-hearted ribbing. He's treated like someone that guys wish they could be like- he's the frat-guy who made it.

I think that the feminist issues are around what these young women get castigated for and how they're castigated. They're attacked for "inappropriate" sexual behavior in a way that their male counterparts simply aren't. Their appearances are scrutized in a way their male counterparts' aren't. They're attacked for being bad mothers in a way that their male counterparts are not attacked for being bad fathers. And when they fuck up, it seems to tar their character in a way that it doesn't for men. Tom Cruise is bouncing back well enough. Mel Gibson drove drunk and revealed the depths of his raging anti-Semitism--and hey, he's still box office.

There's also the issue of how the medica attention itself is playing into these girls' meltdowns. I'm thinking particularly of Britney Spears, whom I just feel bad for these days. When she started losing the thread, all I could think was "Hey, you mean that marketing your teenage daughter's virginity as an object of sexual fantasy for pervy older men (Bob Dole) might not be the most psychologically healthy thing you could do for her? Who knew?"

It also seems to me that celebrity-meltdown focus goes in phases. For my money, the single most entertaining celebrity meltdown was the extended Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes debacle. But more recently we've been getting a spate of young, dumb rich women.

Nice attempt, Nicole. But B.J. and S.P. are nobodies to most people - other than those who watch The Hills. CNN doesn't offer round-the-clock-coverage of their goings-on, that's for sure.

I've never even heard of Brody Jenner or Spencer Pratt.

Me neither.

It seems to me that this thread itself is lacking a good dose of feminism. There certainly is some woman hating going on- why not show a bit of compassion toward these women instead of reducing them to 'whores' or 'skanks' or whatever?

Is that so, Jillas? Well, thanks for coming to feministing to teach us how to be good feminists? Who hear is using the word whore? Can you please specify? Nicole is the only one who used the word skank and if you actually read the thread you’ll see that most everyone here is disagreeing with her.

Jillas, the folks using words like "whore" and "skanks" are the people who DENY that this is a feminist issue. They usually deny that feminism is important, period.