Before we get going, I want to mention there will be some talk of sexual harassment and if you want to dip out of reading this week because of it that’s really okay.
Famous women are reclaiming their boundaries and people are upset about it. Chappell Roan has been propelled into supersonic heights of stardom over the past few months, her songs have hurtled through the charts and Google searches of her reached their highest ever last week. She’s ‘your favourite artist’s favourite artist’ and the Midwest Princess currently on one hell of a tour. But a month ago when she said “I’m Not Afraid Of The Consequences Of Demanding Respect” people didn’t know how to react.
There’s a tendency to say ‘they knew what they were getting in for’ about celebrities who’ve embarked on a career of fame. That they should be eternally ‘grateful’. But where do we draw the line? Is it a line of legalities, when behaviour has climaxed and can be considered akin to sexual harassment or stalking? Or is it a moral line, a code to which we expect everyone the majority of society to adhere to? Certainly, an emotional line is not allowed. The boundaries attempted to be set by women like Roan are in essence a plea for their emotional well-being as well as their safety to be protected. Which are, seemingly, judged at best and ignored at worst.
It’s all happened in such a short space of time for her. I think we find it hard to conceive of overnight success outside of social media or IRL. Navigating fame offline when you’re now a person of interest across the media comes with a very different set of difficulties. Roan has spoken about the need to wear a wig in public to avoid getting recognised and having to let her therapist go, after realising they weren’t equipped to deal with her rapidly accelerating fame. The line has been blurred between her work and personal life with little time for her to adjust. It also begs the question of whether society believes that celebrities are entitled to a personal life or not. Whether celebrities are ever allowed to leave work and clock off like the rest of us.
She also makes specific references to her experiences as a woman. People (ahem, men, and yes not all men but many men) don’t like it when they get told off by women. They don’t like it when they’re not given full control and autonomy over women’s bodies and what they do with them. Go on, give us a smile! I’ve lost count of the number of times random men have shouted this at me in the street. Maybe they just want women to ask nicely, to ask permission to not be touched or harrassed. Assertiveness is so unbecoming.
I think we like to believe that we’ve come a long way when it comes our treatment of famous women. What a far cry we are from the victim shaming of Britney’s umbrella-wielding head-shaving incidents, in which everyone threw their arms in the air and ignorantly denied accountability or having a role to play. But have we? Really?
Shakira left the stage at her show in Miami last week after she suspected someone was upskirting her and taking nonconsensual photos between her legs. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, I’ve seen little written about this in mainstream media. Perhaps it’s too close to home for certain media outlets whose associated paparazzi have committed the same offence to other famous women over the years. In Florida where Shakira was performing upskirtting is illegal, but it’s not illegal across all states in America. Gina Martin successfully championed for upskirting to be made illegal in the UK and has stressed how it’s an act of sexual harassment that can escalate perpetrators towards further acts of sexual harassment and abuse. After all, the heinous abuse against Gisèle Pelicot was uncovered only after her husband (and abuser) was caught upskirting a woman at a supermarket.
Of course, it’s not just female singers who’ve tried to set boundaries and faced backlash. When Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open in 2021 due to her mental health she was labelled petulant, narcissistic and a diva - to name a few. When Simone Biles withdrew from the gymnastics team final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 she was called weak and selfish. Going into Paris 2024, some people questioned her overall commitment to her sport. Thanks to her performance and the subsequent medals she won, she left Paris as the most decorated gymnast in history.
Is there any hope?
While on the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival this year, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega stood next to each other promoting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which they’re both staring in. A video circulated afterwards of a photographer shouting at Ryder to take her sunglasses off. She’s awkwardly poised ready to oblige before Ortega steps in and reassures her that she doesn’t have to. After which, she doesn’t. I found it such a poignant display of women supporting women. It was, to me, an insight into the ways Gen Z women have the strength to empower others and to help pioneer a redefining of the relationships celebrities have with their fans and the media.
I have more to say! So next week will be an extension of this with an emphasis on parasocial relationships - the relationships celebrities have with their fans and the media.
I’ve also written about parasocial relationships before, so you can read that in the meantime if you’d like.
