In the early 2000s, Janet Jackson’s singles and music videos were blacklisted after Justin Timberlake exposed her breast on live television. In the late 2000s, the world watched as megastar Britney Spears crumbled before our eyes, intensely documented by the media. In the second half of the 2010s, #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty was the number one trend on Twitter.
Some may say these events are the result of “Cancel Culture,” but they are actually a part of a broader phenomenon in which entertainment media profits when a successful woman stumbles. For this reason, those within entertainment journalism must think critically about the work they produce and consider a feminist lens in their publications.
Let’s look at the example of the media’s treatment of Britney Spears. Why was it so interesting to watch this successful woman at the height of her career disintegrate? The public exploitation of Spears’ personal life, mental health, and physical appearance transcends simple “celebrity gossip.” The documentation of her public breakdowns, in some ways, was catering to the male gaze.
The exploitative coverage confirms that even the most successful and glamorous women can fail.
For this reason, we must consider that the relentless media coverage of Spears was not just a result of
poor journalism — It was the result of a capitalist and patriarchal society which thrives on and profits from
the objectification, vilification and degradation of successful women.
I will also note that the constant degradation of her body and appearance — which persists today — also
functions as a way of policing the female body in a public forum. It punishes Spears and all women who
share her body type for not conforming to some standards of beauty that our patriarchal society has laid
out for women.
Of course, Spears is not the only artist to suffer a severe journalistic flogging — it is still common today.
The public “cancellation” of Taylor Swift after she was falsely accused of trying to tarnish the reputation
of another artist in 2016 illuminates this as a broader issue.
In her album REPUTATION, following the incident, she sings, “they’re burning all the witches even if you
aren’t one,” making the comparison of being a successful woman today to being a woman in colonial
times accused of witchcraft.
It’s not hard to make the connection. One study identifies entertainment journalism as an evolved form
of “town talk,” harmful in the same way that gossip was to the women who were accused and put on
trial for witchcraft in colonial New England.
Like Spears and Taylor, these women were also punished for challenging and exceeding the social
norms of women at the time.
Spears, Swift, Jackson, and other women artists were victims of a press that wait for women to make
public mistakes so they can make money. But setting up artists to fail is not the role of entertainment
journalism, nor is humiliating them or exposing their private lives.
Entertainment journalism is not “gossip” or “journalism lite” for bored housewives. It is serving the
essential role of recording history, illustrating the evolution of social norms and documenting culture.
Journalists must reflect on the lessons of #FreeBritney and commit to honouring journalistic values to
continue on this important plight of documenting our individual and collective social identities through
entertainment media.
Let’s stop the witch hunts. Let’s commit to doing better and uplifting innocent women from all walks of
life.