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Unfortunately, people hate to see a woman be successful. Throughout pop culture and politics women in places of power face a kind of constant scrutiny that their male peers never experience, especially female celebrities. Misogynistic expectations of women lead to controversy and backlash about things that male celebrities do all the time with no repercussions. Sometimes criticism is valid, like calling out Kanye West for his horrific and insensitive tweets, but often it’s people farming for views on social media by highlighting flaws that many people have.
Women in society are expected to never age, and the women who are in the spotlight are even more so subject to this. In order to look “presentable” in the public eye, many turn to plastic surgery to “improve” their bodies. In the 2023 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report, the majority of every single listed procedure was received by women. Not even barely, either. 90% of most of these procedures were obtained by women. Men in the spotlight don’t have to care about aging. They are seen as rugged and growing more handsome with age. Women are expected to look young forever, and when aging women try plastic surgery to fix what the public sees as wrong, they face even more backlash. In London Facial Plastic Surgery’s list of the Top 15 Celebrities with Terrible Plastic Surgery, 11 of those 15 were women. Not only are female celebrities forced by the public into hiding their authentic selves once they reach a certain age, but they are still shamed for trying to fit this unrealistic beauty standard.
Because of this constant scrutiny, when a male and female celebrity are involved in controversy the guy often gets away without any major backlash while the woman gets ruined in the public’s eye. This is what happened to Janet Jackson in the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show, when Justin Timberlake was dancing way too close to her and wound up unintentionally exposing her. This incident, which was adorned with the name “nipplegate”, left Janet blacklisted from much of the music industry for a long time while Timberlake went on to become a successful artist and faced limited backlash.
Women just can’t catch a break. If a female celebrity goes against the stereotypes the public expects them to fall into, she will be attacked for years. Even if she goes along with what they want, she’ll be called fake and seen as less than. In order to truly move past this double standard, society must recognize the misogyny that runs rampant everywhere and move to get better. That’ll be the only way these incredibly talented women can truly and comfortably share their gifts with the world.
Sources:
https://spec.hamilton.edu/pop-culture-and-its-gendered-double-standard-22c1b591aa60
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