Celebrity culture 'condemns women', says academic
Britney and Winehouse 'condemned by femininity', says academic
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Friday, 13, Jun 2008 12:35
The likes of Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears and Heather Mills are demonised by the media because of their sex, according to a female academic.
Kirsty Fairclough of the University of Salford is to argue at a conference on June 25th that female image has been devalued through tabloid journalism and paparazzi photography.
And citing the likes of Winehouse and Spears, whose troubled lives have been heavily publicised in the media, she will argue that female celebrities are "routinely condemned for their perceived excessive lifestyles and their disregard for the apparent rules of femininity through extreme diets or weight gain, drug abuse, supposed lack of fashion sense, and an 'unfeminine' need for fame and attention".
According to Ms Fairclough, there is a "paradox" in society's views of women in the limelight.
"On one hand female celebrities crave freedom, but on the other hand they still pander to conservative ideas of sexuality through what's been called 'raunch culture'," she said.
"Women are routinely condemned for their behaviour in the media but this isn't just misogyny – the bitching culture tends to be about women against women. It's a real step backwards."
Ms Fairclough's arguments will be made at a conference at the University of East Anglia entitled 'Going Cheap?: Female Celebrity in the Tabloid, Reality and Scandal Genres'.
"The media circus may have reached saturation point with Britney Spears, but I predict it will get worse with other celebrities before it gets better," she added.