entertainment media's history of mistreating young women 📸💻📰

[Music] entertainment media's history of mistreating young women if you take a closer look at how media and society treats women in the entertainment industry we can see a disturbing pattern of public mistreatment vilification harassment and even abuse as the world watches on this has happened time and time again all the way back to the old days of hollywood and it continues to occur even today obviously i'm not the first nor will i be the last person to talk about this situation but i think the conversation is important to have regardless of how many times it's been discussed in today's video we're going to be taking a look at various women in the entertainment industry and the terrible treatment they've endured at the hands of the press the public and their peers just as a warning while we won't be getting into extensive and specific detail there will be brief discussion about potentially triggering subjects like substance abuse or body dysmorphia please be aware of that before continuing to watch this video the golden age of hollywood which lasted between 1910 and 1960 is perhaps most remembered for its glitz and glamour however when we take a closer look at the industry we can see that this was all a simple facade that hid the darker and dirtier truth hollywood would chew people up and spit them out without a second thought and even one of their brightest stars judy garland was not able to come out unscathed judy born frances ethel gum spent her early years as a child performer alongside her two sisters their unstable home life resulted in the family taking to the stage where judy found love and admiration for the first time the start of what would become a dangerous cycle of approval seeking when judy looked back on her childhood as an adult she said quote the only time i felt wanted when i was a kid was when i was on stage performing after her father fell ill judy's success became imperative as she was now the breadwinner of the family with this heavy burden on her shoulders her mother reportedly began to give her pills to help improve her performances the beginning of a lasting struggle with substance abuse that would plague her for the rest of her life judy's natural talent caught the eye of mgm studio execs and she signed a contract with them at the age of 13. she first began working in moderately successful films but it wasn't until her turn as dorothy in the 1939 musical adaptation of the wizard of oz that she found mainstream success and worldwide celebrity she was quickly touted as the all-american girl someone personable with an achievable and natural sort of beauty that the average woman could relate to even though her career was beginning to take off judy soon became self-conscious about her looks and how she was perceived by the media with these insecurities only worsening as the adults around her continued to criticize her weight and appearance not only was she prescribed pills to suppress her appetite but mgm execs also reportedly monitored what she ate and put her on a strict diet of chicken broth and cottage cheese to ensure that she maintained the slim figure they wanted her to have judy would later say quote from the time i was 13 there was a constant struggle between mgm and me whether or not to eat how much to eat what to eat i remember this more vividly than anything else about my childhood as she fought with mgm over her weight she was also being forced to work unimaginably long hours with little to no breaks which resulted in her being given pills to keep her awake and then pills to put her to sleep with the cycle repeating itself daily during this time period there was no outlined policy for drug usage in hollywood and as a result dependence was often forced upon many young kids in the industry to make them reliant on the studios although the studios were supposed to be abiding by child labor laws many other young stars like elizabeth taylor and shirley temple have recalled directors and studios ignoring these guidelines and overworking them anyway the price of her fame was judy's entire existence and every aspect of her life and image effectively belonged to the studio who she dated what she ate and where she went and there was very little she could do to stand against them as the release of the haze code which introduced a morality clause into actresses contracts supported the studios and their system anything that judy did that mgm didn't approve of could not only negatively impact her career but her entire life by the late 1940s judy's struggles which included a suicide attempt were beginning to become public and draw concerns not for her well-being but for the studio's abilities to make money although she was in desperate need of help mgm execs as well as her mother were too concerned with her image to allow any therapy out of fear it would send the message that she was crazy after being given electroshock treatment she was quickly rushed back to work but before long judy's addictions eating disorder and mental state would begin to negatively affect her work she would come to set late not show up to rehearsals and would behave erratically with mgm no longer being able to control her she was branded as being difficult and after 15 years and 29 movies she was fired by the studio judy was only 28 years old at the time but having worked for the studio since she was a child and fully dependent on them she was at a loss for what her future held and after the firing she once again attempted suicide and it wasn't until she was cast in the 1954 film a star is born which is widely considered some of her greatest work but she began to see an increase in mainstream attention once again however this interest didn't last long and her ongoing battle with addiction and mental illness continued and eventually culminated in an accidental overdose at the age of 47 in 1969 unfortunately judy's situation was hardly a rarity and other old hollywood starlet shared a similar fate norma jean mortensen who you probably know best as marilyn monroe has now become a beloved figure in pop culture but when she was alive that was hardly the case starting her career as a model norma jean quickly caught the attention of 20th century fox execs and in an attempt to better market her to the masses the sultry persona of marilyn monroe was born initially struggling in the industry execs refused to acknowledge her acting potential reducing her to small roles that heavily focused on her appearance despite public perception of her being a dumb blonde marilyn was well aware of the growing power of publicity and began to weaponize her beauty for her own game she would use the media to keep her name in the headlines and ensure that producers and directors would remember who she was and it worked soon enough she became the new it girl of hollywood but as her career was on the rise there were people who wanted nothing but to drag her back down in 1952 she faced her first scandal when nude photos she had taken prior to becoming famous were released due to the heavily conservative and misogynistic time period her career easily could have been destroyed by this but marilyn took the situation in stride and refused to hang her head in shame saying that she had no other choice to do the photo shoot as she was struggling financially this tactic worked and she received a great deal of public sympathy for the situation and was able to continue working it was no secret that marilyn used her beauty and sexuality to her advantage but after some time this began to rub her peers the wrong way reportedly joan crawford told the press that marilyn was a quote undignified woman which was basically a snide way of calling her a [ __ ] she was treated with disrespect by her co-workers the studio and the media with the latter often pinning her against actresses with more acceptable behavior like audrey hepburn because of her looks and overt sexuality people refused to take her seriously as an actress or as a person actress sheree north said quote they thought of her as a joke and remembered a time where people would imitate the way marilyn walked behind her back and laugh at her marilyn never the idiot was well aware of how she was being perceived by the public and her peers and begged the studio to let her take on more serious roles instead of the sexy ditzy blonde she had been typecast as after considerable back and forth the studio complied and marilyn slowly began to star in more dimensional roles that allowed her to show her range however shaking off the public perception of her character would prove much more difficult than expected as the majority of her films were still relying on her sex appeal as marketing in the seven year itch marilyn had a scene where she stood over a subway grate and while the image of her flowing white dress showing her legs has since become iconic at the time it was met with much criticism the picture was used in promotional materials for the film but many found it distasteful and a woman stated quote what has marilyn monroe got that a million women have and prefer not to show the picture itself and the hullabaloo surrounding it also served as a catalyst for her first divorce as her husband at the time found the whole ordeal to be embarrassing as if marilyn wasn't the true victim of the situation dealing with incredible amounts of slut-shaming marilyn's career and reputation only got worse from that point on and her insecurities and addictions started to get the best of her her mental health began to deteriorate after suffering a miscarriage and she started to believe the people who said that years of sexual indiscretion were the reason for her fertility issues all of these factors began to impact her work and word of unprofessionalism began to circulate she supposedly showed up late to set would struggle to memorize her lines and would not get along with the cast and crew even though she was one of the most famous actresses of her time directors notoriously hated working with her and would say that she wasn't as charismatic in person everyone had a preconceived idea of who marilyn monroe was and few bothered to take time to truly get to know the real her they wanted the sexy polished actress not the flawed imperfect norma jean that they actually met a victim of hollywood's ridiculous beauty standard marilyn constantly received criticism for her fluctuating weight and by the time she was 33 people began talking about how she looked visibly older and heavier after another divorce and a series of unsuccessful films marilyn sank into a deeper depression and further drug dependency eventually resulting in a nervous breakdown after being released from an institution she was rushed back to film 1962's something's got to give but reportedly still seemed high strung nervous and forgetful the filming of the movie became difficult for everyone involved but to make matters worse marilyn left in the middle of production to go to john f kennedy's birthday party when she returned to set she was fired as the studio was fed up with her antics and the effect it was having on the film just a few months later in august marilyn would be found dead due to an overdose marilyn's place in pop culture today is sadly ironic she continues to be perceived as the perfect woman an ageless sex icon but when she was alive she struggled to be seen otherwise and desperately wanted people to treat her like a normal person before she passed she once said quote i know i belong to the public and to the world not because i was talented or even beautiful but because i had never belonged to anything or anyone else like any woman in the industry she wasn't immune to criticism and faced endless amounts of misogyny sexism ageism and mental health stigma we're going to hop a few decades forward to the 1990s we're in the middle of a digital revolution and tabloid culture is becoming even more vicious although not a part of the entertainment industry in the traditional sense monica lewinsky's name will be forever etched into american history and is a prime example of media coverage that is biased against young women on january 17th 1998 news broke that monica lewinsky and then president bill clinton were having an affair an intern at the white house the scandal drew worldwide coverage with monica becoming america's hester prin forced to adorn a scarlet letter for the rest of her life 25 years old at the time and only 22 when she first met clinton her face and name were splattered across every newsstand the majority of stories painted her as a homewrecker a bimbo a stalker and an overall terrible person who was set out to ruin the country people hated her in 1999 she finally broke her silence about the situation in an interview with barbara walters the interview itself was antagonistic with barbara regularly making misogynistic and sexist statements even asking at one point quote where was your self-respect where was your self-esteem the media's narrative painted monica as a desperate woman that purposefully set out to ruin the president's marriage putting absolutely no blame on bill clinton who was not only 27 years older than her but also her boss and the most powerful man in the country following the scandal monica was forced to publicly apologize to bill his family and to america as the scandal faded from the headlines so did monica from public view but she found it difficult to find a job as her name and image had been completely destroyed she eventually moved to london and avoided all publicity until 2014 where she re-emerged to write an essay for vanity fair that detailed her life after the public banishment and humiliation she wrote about several things but noted how it felt to be completely dehumanized stating quote me america's bj queen that intern that vixen or in the inescapable phrase of our 42nd president that woman it may surprise you to learn that i'm actually a person after hearing the story of tyler clementi a college student who sadly took his life after dealing with the public embarrassment and shame he endured after his roommate released a private intimate video of him she said her own suffering had new meaning and that she knew she wanted to use her experience to lead change and help lessen the suffering of others she began doing public speeches on her story and explaining what it felt like to have been bullied harassed and shamed by society many of her interviews and speeches have gone viral in recent years and people have finally begun to see monica as a person and not the seductress she was portrayed as for years monica lewinsky was america's punching bag while the man who took advantage of her age gender and position went on to be re-elected because the media was on his side prior to monica dominating headlines in the 90s vicki lynn hogan was the newest up-and-coming model after appearing in playboy magazine's march 1992 issue as vicki smith she attracted the eye of guest gene's founder paul marciano marciano decided to rebrand vicky's image and thus anna nicole smith was born anna stood out as the new model on the scene because of her curvaceous figure during a time when the waif thin heroin chic body trend was in her ad campaign for guests which was inspired by blonde bombshell jane mansfield catapulted her to stardom and her appearance as playmate of the year in 1993 where she dressed as marilyn monroe solidified her place in the public's eye as a sex symbol at age 26 her public perception took a negative turn after she married 89 year old billionaire j howard marshall anna was painted as the quintessential gold digger with misogyny and classism driving the conversation their marriage was subjected to intense scrutiny and judgment not only from the media but from marshall's family because anna grew up poor was a high school dropout a single mother and a stripper when she first met her soon-to-be husband it was easy for the world to paint her as a desperate classless villain who was preying on an elderly man for his money anna stated that their relationship was never the way people thought it was once saying quote he took me out of a terrible place took care of me he was my savior it wasn't a sexual baby oh baby i love your body type of love in an interview with 2020 she would go on to say that her greatest fear in their relationship was being perceived as a gold digger which is why she put off marrying him for years but unfortunately that ended up happening anyway after only six months of marriage marshall fell ill and his declining health started a nasty legal battle between anna nicole smith and his sons one of his sons was able to receive guardianship over his father and he immediately revoked the allowance marshall had set up for anna as well as reducing the amount of time the couple could meet to only 30 minutes a day after marshall's death a years-long battle ensued over his estate which drew the attention of media outlets worldwide during the process anna was vilified and portrayed as a money-hungry dumb blonde and in classic fashion her entire existence became a joke the media relied on classic misogynistic stereotypes to paint a picture of who anna was instead of trying to understand the actual person but despite how the media and the howard estate portrayed her anna continued to speak well of her deceased husband and her relationship with him the years of bad press negatively impacted anna's ability to get work and as a last resort she agreed to do a reality show about her life the anna nicole show at this point in pop culture reality tv was still in its infancy but was seeing an increase in popularity as ordinary people were both fascinated and appalled by the lives of the rich and famous the anna nicole show was heavily contrived by producers who would regularly focus on her weight gain as well as her romantic life with its subject matter often making anna appear ignorant desperate and washed up the same publications that once used to revere her for her beauty jumped at the opportunity to call her ugly often commenting about her fluctuating weight in spite of all of this negativity anna was able to find happiness after becoming pregnant but unfortunately it was rather short-lived while she was still in the hospital recovering from the birth of her daughter her son daniel who she'd given birth to at age 19 passed away from a drug overdose anna never recovered from her son's passing and combined with years of a mentally exhaustive legal battle and a toxic relationship with the media she died of an accidental overdose in 2007 at the age of 39. much like it was throughout her life the media continued to compare her to marilyn monroe even calling anna's death the remake of marilyn's horrific passing poking fun at her even when she was no longer around to defend herself like marilyn very few people came to anna nicole smith's defense or treated her with empathy and kindness the media used her as an object they could make money off of and throw away when she no longer served a purpose and with anna gone they had to find someone else to tear apart after the new york times released their framing britney documentary on hulu in february 2021 the conversation about the media's mistreatment of young women has been impossible to avoid and britney is often at the forefront of these conversations britney spears got her first taste of fame at an early age appearing on disney's the mickey mouse club at the age of 11 where she sang danced and acted alongside other future celebrities like christina aguilera justin timberlake and ryan gosling it wasn't until after the show had finished airing that her career pivoted with management and her family pushing her to go the pop star route on september 28 1998 the first single of her debut album premiered and baby one more time went on to become a certifiable hit and one of the best selling songs of all time while the song made a huge splash it was actually its music video and the singer herself who caught the public's attention only 16 years old at the time the lyrics of the song combined with the costuming and dancing sparked controversy with parents calling it inappropriate and provocative this would be the first but not the last time that britney's sexuality would become a hot topic britney spears should be grounded for wearing that did you see what you you're an adult woman you're a grown-up britney spears is 18 she's like you know takes two band-aids and she's singing there i don't appreciate that she's a nice girl she's very nice but the trampy outfits have to go i don't know if he's american italian canadian i don't know where he was from he offered you you didn't you didn't hear about this one no someone 17 million dollars to to uh uh have sex okay i don't believe i just said that mom i'm sorry i apologize my mom's watching okay the wife of the governor of maryland who appeared in an anti-violence rally and well listen to what she said really if i had an opportunity to to shoot britney spears i think i would that's really bad because of the example for kids and how hard it is to be a parent and keep all of this away from your kids i mean i'm you know i can't help that and if the parents don't like them to see it then change the channel i'm just wondering how you feel about all the constant speculation about your virginity and whether you are a virgin or not i really wish i would have never said anything to begin with because i'm kind of stuck in this little place where people are always asking me have there been any changes on that front that's a personal question in the early stages of her career she had the complicated brand image of being a down to earth southern girl with a rowdier sexier side to her an editor at rolling stone attributed much of her early success to the fact that she was a quote girl next door with just a small touch of the devil mixed in her management created a sexualized image that was played up in marketing but in interviews britney emphasized that it was all harmless and that she was still focused on wholesome christian values unfortunately people didn't really believe her in 2000 she announced that she and nsync member justin timberlake had begun dating which set off rumors about her sex life and she was routinely asked about her virginity britney's relationship with justin was a media gold mine they were both equally famous and considered teen royalty at the time after they broke up in 2002 the media and the public quickly chose sides with many favoring justin's crimea river narrative that painted britney as a cheater and a [ __ ] retroactively britney has stated that this is where she first saw the media turn against her in the hulu framing britney documentary new york times critic wesley morris says quote the way that people treated her to be very high school about it was like she was the school [ __ ] and he was the quarterback the narrative surrounding their breakup was what did you do to cause this what did you do to hurt him instead of attempting to understand both sides of the situation she was only 21 at the time and yet her relationship problems were being shown to the entire world because of the cheating allegations the media decided that she deserved to be punished and as a result a takedown of her public image began in 2003 britney sat down with diane sawyer to address all the drama rumors and backlash and while britney intended to explain the situation the interview took a turn with sawyer regularly asking leading questions with sexist undertones that eventually culminated in brittany breaking down into tears mid-interview the way britney spears was simultaneously praised and punished for being sexual was representative of how society treats female sexuality in general damned if you do damned if you don't the 2000s were latent with so much misogyny that it was inevitable that britney would be subjected to inappropriate comments and questions daily but another element to the abuse that britney endured was rooted in classism when she wasn't working she'd walk around in cutoffs wear her hair messily and go out and eat fast food although the public initially loved britney's down-to-earth country roots it was now being twisted to imply that she was white trash media outlets and magazines didn't view her as someone worthy of respect and privacy she was just a paycheck to them paparazzi were incentivized to violate boundaries and cross ethical and moral lines because magazines would pay top dollar to get photos of her especially ones that were unflattering britney who would attempt to escape these invasive and sometimes dangerous situations would often be criticized for her behavior if she was polite and let them take photos she was considered an attention [ __ ] and self-absorbed but if she declined then she was rude and a [ __ ] no matter what she was in the wrong one notable controversy took place after the birth of her son in 2006 where she attempted to escape a mob of paparazzi and as a result did not have time to put her son in his car seat before driving off these photos drew national outrage and soon enough britney was being called an unfit mother something that would later be used against her in court things continued to get worse as britney's mental and emotional health started to visibly take a hit and it was commonplace for magazines to include pictures of her crying or looking distressed by the time the infamous shaved head umbrella moment happened it was easy for the media to paint her as mentally unstable ignoring the fact that they were the ones who were routinely provoking and harassing her soon enough it became so normalized to make fun of and bash britney spears that the contrarian perspective back then was to actually give her respect what's happened it's been happening in the press and the media recently and particularly in the so-called news outlets the the way the media is looking at the world i i kind of had similar feelings when i when i used to watch america's funniest home videos you know you'd be laughing at the kid falling over and then you go wait a minute put down the damn camera and help your kids and i and i and i think we're kind of holding the cam and people are falling apart people are people are dying that anna nicole smith woman she died no it's not a joke you know it's it stops being funny that she's got a six week old kid or six month old kid what the hell is that you know and i i i'm starting to feel uncomfortable about making fun of these people we should be attacking the vulnerable people and it looks to me a little bit that britney spears has a similar problem going on this woman has two kids she's 25 years old she's a baby herself she's a baby around to this time craig ferguson actually attempted to shed light on the matter on his talk show only for his audience to laugh even when he brought up the untimely death of anna nicole smith people were so desensitized to the mistreatment of women that even the idea of them dying was funny the media's ongoing mistreatment of britney from her early sexualization to the trivialization of her mental health eventually culminated in the loss of her own autonomy and even now at the age of 39 britney spears is still in a conservatorship that was placed on her during a period of time when she needed to be helped not punished a sad story without a happy ending singer amy winehouse first rose to fame in the mid-2000s due to her unique voice her jet black beehive hairdo and exaggerated winged eyeliner made her easily stand out amongst her contemporaries while simultaneously providing the public an easy way to criticize her the british songstresses rockabilly inspired image was often mocked and parodied and she had a tumultuous relationship with the media from the very start of her career with tabloids being obsessed with chronicling her struggles which permanently impacted her and her career during her life amy had problems with substance abuse mental health issues and an eating disorder all of which became fodder for the media to exploit a cnn article by paul willis states quote her battle with private demons was very public detailed in a nearly constant stream of lurid tales in the tabloids one infamous publication included a picture of amy with the words amy on crack splashed across the headline inside featured a story claiming that she had ingested a cocktail of drugs during a house party much of the way the tabloids covered amy's life had no journalistic integrity and were morally and ethically wrong but the media exasperated everything she was already struggling with many of her problems have been retroactively linked to her toxic relationship with then-partner blake fielder civil who has since publicly admitted to introducing amy to the substances that would go on to affect her life amy's problems would play out on the front cover of newspapers and magazines and she was once even referred to as britain's britney the paparazzi would follow her every move in the hopes of catching her in a less than ideal position and tabloids would post photographs of amy in disturbing states from visits to rehab to walking barefoot through the london streets they would point out her problems without bothering to address the deeper issues at hand weinhaus's struggles with substance abuse were very public and few people acknowledged the damaging impact the excessive media coverage had on her situation although she made numerous attempts to become sober amy sadly passed away in 2011 due to alcohol poisoning after her death her album back to black became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and her name was cemented in history alongside other artists who died young members of the infamous 27 club born into the famous jackson family janet first began her career performing alongside them after going solo in the 80s she became a certifiable pop icon churning out hits like what have you done for me lately and rhythm nation and is often credited for paving the way for other black women in the industry while the media spent a lot of its time focusing on her brother michael janet had her own struggles with the press while performing a medley of her greatest hits at the 2004 super bowl halftime show janet revealed a surprise guest justin timberlake a planned costume reveal became a wardrobe malfunction and a pr nightmare after he exposed janet's breast on live tv the incident which became known as nipplegate caused a media frenzy and the fcc launched a full-blown investigation into the situation after receiving over 500 000 complaints both janet and justin issued apologies but the backlash was largely focused on janet who was blamed for the entire situation to the point that people thought that she had planned it as a publicity stunt when asked about the situation in interviews janet would repeatedly state that she wanted to move on and that she was embarrassed that it had happened but people continued to shame her for it and bring it up radio and tv shows began pulling her music from their lineup and she was noticeably absent from that year's grammys despite initially being announced as a performer justin would go on to give interviews distancing himself from the incident and from janet stating that he was frustrated with the entire ordeal because now his character and reputation were on the line although he still got to perform at the grammys that year funny how that works huh the swift backlash that janet received was misogynistic but it was a specific kind of misogyny towards black women called misogynoir coined by moya bailey massage noir affects black women specifically because they exist at the intersection of race and gender where there's harmful biases from both sides while they both played a part in the incident janet faced far harsher punishment from the industry than justin specifically because she is both black and a woman there are a lot of other nuances to the situation that i can't get into now but if you're interested in learning more khadijah has a great video about it that i'd highly recommend watching this racist and sexist bias against janet was something that justin was well aware of as he stated in an mtv interview two years after the incident quote i think that america's harsher on women and i think that america is unfairly harsh on ethnic people although he admitted this he did very little to defend or support janet when the world turned on her he let her take most of the blame while he looked the other way just like they had done with britney spears the media portrayed janet as the villain and justin as the victim with people today taking a closer look at women's treatment in the 2000s justin timberlake was finally called out for his role in the backlash and after a decade he finally issued a public apology to both janet and brittany for how he treated them he said quote i am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem where i spoke out of turn or did not speak for what was right i understand that i fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism i specifically want to apologize to britney spears and janet jackson both individually because i care for and respect these women and i know i failed whether or not people find this decade-late apology sincere justin timberlake will be fine because he's a white man janet has moved on from the incident and is continuing to thrive and inspire but that's one of the happier endings the media already had proof that celebrity downfalls made for higher sales and they couldn't wait to find another star to sink their teeth into lindsay lohan started as a child model and eventually went into acting with her lead role as hallie and annie in the 1998 film adaptation of the parent trap catapulting her to stardom critics and audiences were impressed with her acting talents and she was quickly declared the next big thing in the years that followed she would go on to star in teen classics like get a clue freaky friday confessions of a teenage drama queen and mean girls making her the era's undeniable it girl however as she began growing up the coverage that followed her slowly began to change the minute that she was deemed old enough the public began to sexualize her and tabloids would write about her body looking more developed than other young stars of the time and of course whenever she would lose weight they would speculate about whether or not she had an eating disorder or a drug problem because of her fame lindsay's every move was written about by magazines and gossip sites from the club she went to to the people she hung out with after being pictured partying with paris hilton lindsay would develop a reputation of being a wild child and was often negatively compared to another teen star hilary duff whose image was squeaky clean and wholesome the media found it easy to compare the two girls as they were around the same age and had similar career paths but hillary was consistently portrayed as the good girl while lindsay was bad even lindsay's home life was used as tabloid material her father was regularly in and out of jail and the press took advantage of the situation by bringing the family's personal issues into the spotlight often implying that her parents were to blame for her behavior and when lindsay began to experience legal issues herself they were quick to say that she was growing up to become just like her father although she began her career as a bright star lindsay's positive reputation in hollywood was dwindling because of the way she was portrayed by the media her career was negatively impacted with the few films she was able to secure becoming box office bombs due to bad press and public perception although she was still acting her reputation continued to worsen as she would often be late for work and struggle to remember her lines becoming a liability for the studios the final nail in the coffin for her career was when the producer of her 2007 film georgia rule issued a letter that reprimanded her for unprofessional behavior even going as far as calling her a spoiled child the media continued to exploit lindsay's situation and headlines like lowlife and lindsay wasted again were all too common with the industry and the public reveling in her downfall she found herself unable to seek help and her attempts at rehabilitation were often mocked and made light of well you look remarkably well now you know you know i have made routinely made jokes about you and the activities are true and otherwise you're aware of that right i like that you say true and otherwise yeah yeah true and false true and false some of some of the activities are not true at all is that right now aren't you supposed to aren't you supposed to be in rehab now do not watch anything that goes on how many times have you been in rehab several and what what how will this time be different what are they rehabbing first of all what is on their list what are they going to work on when you walk through the door you have addiction problems no you sound like dr phil yeah i'm sorry is it like alcohol do you drink too much we've discussed this in the past who did we really when did we decide because i'm the one who's having the blackouts i'm just saying uh when you when you go to the rehab what are they let's let's this is we have to we're here for a movie we have to watch let's stay on the positives like aside from that side of the positive yeah all right no no i've gone through a lot in life and i'm looking forward to actually just taking time from me you can't make a joke of it so when you come out you'll know but i don't want people to think that i'm making a joke of that no you shouldn't make a joke because this could be good for you it will be good for you it will yeah have you been to this place no it's not like a joking matter no lindsay attempted to make several comebacks however none of them have ever gained her the fame accolades and respect she once had in hollywood at the peak of her career but that didn't mean people have stopped rooting for her because there's been a resurgence of people discussing the mistreatment of hollywood starlets many have expressed interest in her having her big comeback moment and taking control of the narrative that's been created about her she was a talented actress that could have gone on to have a career similar to the likes of rachel mcadams or mandy moore had she been given the right guidance even after lindsay's missteps she could have rebounded and had a career revival a la drew barrymore like lindsay drew also started as a child actress that unfortunately battled addiction from an early age due to terrible parents that enabled her descent into alcohol and drug dependency after multiple rehab stints being institutionalized and also being considered the wild child of hollywood drew managed to get sober and bounce back by starring in the wedding singer and ever after she also created her own production company that produced cult classics like donnie darko never been kissed and of course charlie's angels but the key difference between lindsay and drew was that drew did have at least one parental figure looking after her while on the set of et as a child drew asked director steven spielberg if he would be her godfather and he said yes so even though drew struggled she did have a safety net that looked after her lindsay's life and career could have been drastically different had she had a similar support system hollywood relishes in a good comeback story and robert downey jr is another perfect example of someone who struggled for most of their life but is now one of the most influential and successful figures in hollywood today robert struggled with substance abuse issues as a child that continued and worsened into adulthood after a string of arrests rehab visits and a stint in prison he managed to get sober and get back into acting with his 2008 role as iron man pushing him back into mainstream success now as a permanent and beloved character in the mcu downey is one of the highest paid actors in hollywood and an inspiration to people who also struggle with addiction all it took was someone to give him another chance something lindsay deserves as well mila tequila has a great video that goes into depth about the entire situation with amanda and i would highly recommend checking that out if you really want to see how deep the problem goes and how the media fanned the flames we'll just be going through the basics starting her career in the late 90s amanda went on to become the new it girl in hollywoodland not only proving popular enough to have her own series the amanda show but going on to star in highly successful and iconic teen films like what a girl wants she's the man hairspray and easy a during her heyday she was called the next lucille ball as a result of her impeccable comedic timing and likable girl next door image however this thriving career came to a halt in 2010 when she publicly announced that she would be retiring from acting citing a newfound passion for fashion in the years that followed her retirement amanda would experience a very public breakdown that ranged from legal troubles to twitter feuds tabloids would post unflattering pictures of her on their covers with words like insane or ruined by fame splashed across them despite her struggles being obvious many people weren't particularly concerned for her well-being but enjoyed judging and profiting off of her breakdown from afar both social media and tabloid culture increased the problem as it made people desensitized and apathetic towards famous people amanda's struggles came as a surprise to many as unlike her contemporaries like lindsay lohan she had never been seen partying or even had rumors that she was involved with legal substances much like hillary duff's image at the time amanda was seen as the good girl that never got into trouble with the public believing that she had escaped the hollywood child curse an expression people came up with to describe the far too common situation that child actors find themselves in after growing up in the spotlight the pressure intense scrutiny and abuse these people experience at a young age can culminate in them dealing with substance abuse eating disorders and mental health issues fellow child star alison stoner called this phenomenon the toddler to train wreck industrial complex although many people remember amanda's breakdown in the years since she seems to have greatly improved revealing that she's not only engaged but also in therapy and overall in a better place however her current happiness doesn't seem to satisfy people as they continue to look for ways to tear her down primarily in regard to her appearance as though they have any say over what she has to look like first things first it's important to note that courtney recently came out as non-binary and goes by they them pronouns however they're being included in this video as their horrific treatment by the media was heavily influenced by their traditionally feminine appearance for those unfamiliar with courtney's situation they first drew media attention at the age of 16 when their relationship with 50 year old actor doug hutchinson was announced although the marriage as a whole was heavily criticized for their large age gap it was courtney who was framed most regularly as the villain being described as a teen bride or a gold digging [ __ ] amongst other derogatory things doug on the other hand was chastised for the relationship but got off relatively scot-free as he insisted that no laws had been broken and that even though courtney was a minor they had not been intimate until after they were given permission to marry by their parents this legal loophole hardly makes the situation any less disgusting doug was three times courtney's age but continually insisted that courtney had the power in the relationship and that they didn't need to be protected during this time multiple celebrities were constantly berating and mocking courtney joy behar called them a [ __ ] courtney love said they were a [ __ ] anderson cooper compared them to a stripper and most notably chrissy teigen routinely attacked them online courtney said quote she wouldn't just publicly tweet about wanting me to take a dirt nap but would privately dm me and tell me to kill myself things like i can't wait for you to die courtney has since said that the majority of verbal abuse they endured as a child was mostly at the hands of other women internalized misogyny at play in a column for mel magazine writer magdalene taylor summed up the situation with courtney best by stating quote the media and the viewer turned a child abuse victim into a sleazy spectacle people wanted to paint courtney as the villain the floozy because otherwise they would have to acknowledge the fact that they let this man profit off of his predatory behavior and that the american media society and justice system were supporting it after their marriage doug and courtney were interviewed by multiple news outlets with many refusing to outright call out doug on his predatory behavior and courtney was paraded around as a bimbo with an addiction to plastic surgery the only possible explanation for their appearance in an interview courtney said quote i was this joke a giant sexual joke and looking back on all this stuff nobody wants to say anything about it apparently it's okay to treat minors this way you went on the dr drew show and allowed him to do an ultrasound of your of your bosom to prove that they are as god intended them to be it was very brave but i don't want to do that i'm not that crass i don't care about your breasts i i mean they're lovely they're lovely the obsession with courtney's looks even culminated in their appearance on an episode of dr drew where 16 year old courtney was given a live ultrasound to prove their breasts weren't implants in an interview courtney stated that this incident as well as others during their younger years were incredibly traumatic quote i'm being mocked overtly sexualized abused not only in my home but internationally and it really did a number on my self-confidence and my sense of worthiness which i struggle with today the first step to healing is to talk about it and the way that i was treated on national tv by dr drew i look back on it and i just feel sick to my stomach that wouldn't happen today but we still do have children being overtly sexualized doug and courtney were in an on and off relationship until 2018 when courtney filed for divorce that would eventually be finalized in 2020. it wasn't until after the separation that courtney stated they were finally able to recognize the situation as abuse and that in the time away from doug they finally felt free but that the lasting impact of the situation and their mistreatment by the public continues to haunt them after the era of lindsay's and britney's and amanda's we were introduced to a new generation of teen stars with miley cyrus at the forefront miley became a household name after starring on the disney channel show hannah montana in 2006. she carried this multi-million dollar brand on her shoulder retroactively referring to herself as a disney mascot who is seen more as a product than a person miley first found herself dealing with scandal in her teens in 2008 photos of her in a swimsuit and underwear were leaked after someone hacked her gmail account and shortly after she received backlash after posing for her now infamous vanity fair cover then 15 the photo was shot by annie leibovitz and featured miley wrapped in a white sheet the new york post had the vanity fair picture as the cover of the newspaper with the words miley shame written across it and the photos caused an uproar from parents who claimed that she was a bad influence on their young daughters miley would be forced to apologize for the photos shortly after but in 2018 she rescinded her apology and tweeted quote i'm not sorry [ __ ] you on the anniversary of the incident in an interview with jimmy kimmel she said that the picture and the shoot was not sexual in nature and that she has nothing to be ashamed of it's the adults who sexualized an innocent photo of a child that should be ashamed of themselves after the vanity fair incident miley continued to make headlines for her scandalous and controversial behavior she at one point was even voted one of the worst influences on kids and was often painted as a train wreck or wild child i remember a time when her can't be tamed era was considered problematic but that was nothing compared to the public backlash she would receive in 2013 following the release of wrecking ball and her performance with robin thicke at the vmas in her 2013 mtv documentary the movement miley stated that everything she does is intentional she wanted to rebel against the person disney and parents wanted her to be she was never out of control although miley consistently received criticism for her behavior retroactively it just looks like the usual angst and rebellion of a teen growing up without many of the public struggles we saw other celebrities face what makes her so different from other stars in hollywood the answer is simple a strong family unit her father billy ray cyrus and godmother dolly parton are both musicians and as a result miley had the privilege of being around people who were familiar with the ins and outs of the entertainment industry media scandals and all she didn't have to worry about issues regarding money like many celebrities who the media preyed upon unlike britney judy or marilyn she had people in her corner who wanted to support and guide her not manipulate and abuse her and as a result we can see how her career and personal life unlike many others is continuing to thrive taylor swift's media coverage shows a clear double standard when it comes to how the media and the public treat men and women from the very beginning of her career she was criticized and ridiculed for supposedly dating too much and using her love life as inspiration for her music despite the fact that male artists do the exact same thing with little to no backlash well aware of the double standard taylor even references leo dicaprio in the lyrics for her song the man using him as an example to point out the hypocrisy in the media that allows him to constantly be dating different 20-something-year-old models without much criticism it was and still is common to use taylor's relationships against her with the public shaming ranging from a clothing company making a t-shirt with a list of taylor's exes on it to 2013 golden globe host tina fey and amy poehler joking that taylor should stay away from michael j fox's son at the ceremony taylor was depicted as the crazy girl that couldn't keep a man and hopped from one relationship to the next this narrative that she's desperate and always hunting for a new man persists even to this day despite having been in the same relationship for the past four years it's clear that taylor's mistreatment by the media has permanently affected her relationship with the public and she's far more reclusive and private than she was when she was younger out of fear of her personal life being used against her megan fox's case is an interesting one as public perception of her character has done a near 180 in recent years although she began her career with age-appropriate movies like holiday in the sun and confessions of a teenage drama queen megan's appearance would prove detrimental resulting in her often portraying ditzy's sexed up teens filmed under the male gaze one of her earliest guest starring roles was on two and a half men or her character who was supposed to be 16 is ogled at by men three times her age during the peak of her fame she was often compared to marilyn monroe or angelina jolie and regularly slut-shamed and sexualized by the media and there were even rumors that she was actually transgender after she sarcastically joked about it in an interview bizarrely transphobic rumors of this sort were all too common around this time with even lady gaga being called a man in disguise early on in her career the rumors of megan being trans went hand in hand with rumors of plastic surgery with people insisting that she had changed her entire face because they needed to find some way to try and shake her confidence like marilyn monroe because megan was revered for her beauty she was treated as something pretty to look at but not someone worthy of respect megan was solidified as a sex symbol following her role in 2009's transformers film which reunited her with director michael bay who had previously hired the then 15 year old megan as an extra in bad boys too where she wore nothing but a bikini under a waterfall eh my first legitimate acting job was i was a background i was an extra in bad boys too okay which is which is also a michael bay film and um i was just sort of in the background i was 15 at the time i was underage but i was in a stars and stripes bikini and a red cowboy hat dancing under a waterfall that was my first job right there they are there you go michael bay would routinely treat megan fox's eye candy something that she said she was uncomfortable with giving her character little else to do except stand provocatively in front of the camera it was to the point that when megan would ask him for direction he would tell her to quote just be sexy it's important to note that michael bay doesn't have a good relationship with many women in hollywood often making negative comments about their appearance kate beckinsale who worked with the director on pearl harbor said that he would often make comments about her looks quote i think he was baffled by me because my boobs weren't bigger than my head or i wasn't blonde megan's relationship with michael bay was strange to the point that she would routinely call him out in interviews for his directorial style which resulted in one of her biggest scandals in 2009 when she compared him to hitler megan was known for her incredibly dry sense of humor which had landed her in hot water on a few other occasions as well and this one snippet from the interview made headlines and she was depicted as difficult to work with and ungrateful she ruffled the feathers of many men in the industry and three anonymous men on the transformers set even wrote a public letter calling megan an assortment of derogatory things which was used as evidence of her problematic behavior following this incident she was removed from the transformers franchise and near blacklisted from the industry in a 2019 interview with entertainment tonight she said quote i think i had a genuine psychological breakdown where i wanted just nothing to do i didn't want to be seen i didn't want to have to take a photo do a magazine walk a carpet i didn't want to be seen in public at all because the fear and the belief and the absolute certainty that i was going to be mocked or spat at or someone was going to yell at me or people would stone me or savage me for just being out so i went through a very dark moment after that men were quick to turn on megan but the internalized misogyny that is so pervasive in our society also led to women feeling resentment towards her and they were more than happy to use the hyper-sexualized image that men had created about megan to justify their hatred of her it wasn't until years later during the metoo movement that megan finally spoke up about her own experience with sexual harassment and how she felt about women receiving her so poorly in a new york times interview she said quote my words were taken and used against me in a way that was at that time in my life at that age and dealing with that level of fame really painful i was rejected because of qualities that are now being praised and other women coming forward and because of my experience i feel it's likely that i will always be just out of the collective understanding i don't know if there will ever be a time where i'm considered normal or relatable or likable i just didn't think based on how i'd been received by people and by feminists that i would be a sympathetic victim the concept of not being considered a sympathetic victim because people don't view you as relatable or likable is a large part of why misogyny continues to thrive in our society women shouldn't have to be seen as bubbly or charming for people to treat them with respect some women's inability to view megan as anything other than the sex symbol allowed them to look the other way and ignore the blatant persecution she endured for years and while men benefit the most from the patriarchy it's naive to ignore the ways in which women can also weaponize misogyny against other women people ignored the fact that megan fox was exploited by and sexualized by older more powerful men from the time she was a teenager and instead they chose to bully and mischaracterize her then when she finally stood up for herself she was called a talentless ungrateful bimbo and tossed aside while everyone looked the other way but at least now she's getting the appreciation she deserves a young female entertainer who is often compared to megan fox not only in regard to looks is madison beer unlike many of the other women we've discussed madison has always been on the receiving end of negative press there was no moment where she was loved and then turned on madison was thrust into the spotlight at the age of 14 after being discovered by justin bieber and while this seemed to benefit her singing career it came with a slew of intense online bullying harassment and slut-shaming largely due to the toxic nature of both justin bieber's fans and haters by the time she was 16 madison was routinely framed as a [ __ ] with pictures of her with any guy resulting in a slew of online rumors the rise of social media has resulted in a shift when it comes to media coverage with tabloid culture essentially defunct and not as lucrative as it once was because celebrities can put themselves on social media they're able to tell their own side of the story and directly contradict the narrative the media tries to paint of them but on the flip side of things the anonymity of social media heavily promotes misogyny and combined with the toxicity of stan culture online harassment has been weaponized with groups of people hoping to tear women down you can even find compilation videos on youtube entitled why everyone hates madison beer or madison beer being problematic for six minutes with the comments section full of people wishing harm on her to say she's disliked would be an understatement but a woman being perceived as unlikable is not free reign for people to abuse and mistreat her on international women's day in 2020 madison opened up about the situation and spoke about her experience about being violated and shamed by the internet now there are definitely valid criticisms that can be made in regard to certain situations madison has found herself in but the internet is far less forgiving of women than men when they make mistakes it feels like every other day some male celebrity or social media influencer is being outed for being an abuser or an assaulter but the internet would rather spend their time debating if madison got lip filler like any person madison has done things worthy of criticism but she is also deserving of basic human decency and respect two things can be true at once people attempt to justify madison's mistreatment by saying she creates unrealistic beauty standards but this anger is misplaced madison has attempted to address this in live streams but it often backfires resulting in a frustrating cycle where people are actively ignoring what she's saying and choosing to create their own narrative societal beauty standards are definitely harmful for all of us however pinning the blame on madison and not viewing her as someone who also has fallen victim to these accepted beauty standards is naive people have weaponized feminist talking points in order to justify their own sexism ignorance and insecurities while disregarding the fact that our society is designed to put women down the current discourse regarding how poorly women have been treated by the media is often blamed on tabloid culture society being different at the time or a general ignorance about mental health but this waving of responsibility doesn't actually hold up considering the dehumanization slut-shaming harassment and disrespect of women continues to exist society wasn't different back then nowadays it just isn't as obvious when we analyze all the ways these women have been mistreated it boils down to misogyny and while the solution to the issue sounds simple on paper stop being misogynistic our entire society is ruled by the patriarchy the systems that allowed people like courtney stodden and monica lewinsky to be publicly mistreated by men with power over them are still in place today the media profits off of women's suffering and has resulted in people thinking it's normal to harass and verbally attack women with little to no consequences these systems are insidious and will take decades if not centuries to dismantle but we could start chipping away at the foundation by taking personal accountability we can all refuse to engage with sexist content and support women when they voice their concerns this doesn't have to keep happening i hope you enjoyed this video don't forget to like and subscribe and i'll see you soon bye [Music]

Channel: ModernGurlz

Views: 1,263,897

Keywords: style, modern gurlz, 90s fashion, fashion, movie review, movie commentary, moderngurlz, review, movies, Film analysis, movie analysis, analysis, video essay, movie reviews, cinema, television, entertainment, deep meaning, tv answers, disney, live action reboot, ranking, ranking movies, costume design, fashion analysis, style analysis, britney spears, free britney, megan fox, janet jackson, y2k style, 2000s, pop culture, courtney stodden, marilyn monroe, lindsay lohan, taylor swift

Id: 6T7kzkAnqQY

Length: 60min 30sec (3630 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 21 2021

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[u/honeybadgerattitude]

Just watched it all and it’s amazing! I seriously recommend to all Queens. It’s something I’ve been realising on my own recently anyway but to have it all described like that is mind blowing. These girls are so young when they start getting sexualised and abused and that it’s perfectly acceptable by society is shocking.

[u/fireforestfairy]

It was really sad that Lady Gaga got raped. Totally not ok.

[u/honeybadgerattitude]

Caroline Flack is another great example. Not necessarily of over sexualisation in the media, although she was too, but of a woman being vilified in the press for something simply because she was a woman. I’m not saying that she didn’t do anything wrong, but the punishment far outweighed the crime and the media seized on it because it fit their misogynistic narrative. They were like sharks in a feeding frenzy then had the cheek to drone on about kindness after she died.

[u/blueboobs-]

Jameela Jamil explores this a lot because it has been done to her. She has developed a model that shows the entire elevation then devaluing and demonizing done with young popular celebrity girls and women. They did it with Anne Hathaway, they still do it with her. It’s literally a media model...

[u/BellaMob]

I love this ModernGurlz channel, their content is just wonderfully written and produced. I like that they gave a shout to Khadija Mbowe as well, she has a great video about Janet Jackson.