She’s a girl, so that makes it okay… yeah?

In society today, it is no secret that celebrities get a special treatment when it comes to breaking the law, especially when those celebrities are also professional athletes. And of course, leave it to the media to find a way to bring sexism into the mix.

In the world of sports, athletes such as Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are no strangers to legal charges, as both of them have been charged with some form of domestic abuse. Both of these athletes have endured copious amounts of consequences to their actions, including publicizing their negative reputation. As a result of all the media attention, Rice and Peterson have also been suspended indefinitely. However, my question is, would they have received as much punishment if they were women committing the same crime?

Within the last year, Hope Solo, goalie for the U.S women’s soccer team, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of fourth-degree assault as a result of an altercation between her and two of her family members. Although I am a huge fan of Solo and the women’s soccer team, I do not think enough action or publicity was taken in relation to this situation. In an ESPN article, Solo Domestic Abuse Charges Dropped, the news announced that the judge assigned to the case has dropped the charges due to lack of interviews from the victims.  The article also stated that Solo did not appear in court because she was attending a training camp with the permission of the judge, which in my opinion, does not seem fair at all. Other male athletes received so much publicity for their domestic abuse cases and were removed from playing while charges were pending, but that was never the case for Solo. Furthermore, ESPN unnecessarily made a point to mention that Solo has won two olympic gold medals with the soccer team, because that is really going to help her get rid of the charges.

The fact of the matter is, the double standard that the media portrays toward this issue is not acceptable. Domestic violence is still a serious crime no matter what sex you are. The fact that Solo’s case received little publicity and was passed off as unimportant is truly appalling. It is honestly sad that the media has not realized this yet.

And the award goes to… (Part 2)

Let’s be real, I live for award shows. The Oscars are tonight and it wouldn’t be a real award show if it didn’t have some controversy.

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, is an annual awards ceremony that honors the achievements of those in the film industry. Tonight will be the 87th showing of this event and the media is more obsessed than ever. There have been countless articles expressing anger toward Hollywood’s racial bias concerning the Oscars. The nominees this year represent little to none of the extremely talented diverse span of actors/actresses that deserve the same, if not more, recognition than white actors/actresses. It makes people wonder when the “film industry” became the “white industry”.

According to The Telegraph, the Black Entertainment industry is appalled by the lack of diversity in the 2015 Oscars, and they honestly have every right to be. The event’s four major categories, best actor/actress and best supporting actor/actress, all feature nominees that are white. I mean, I understand that majority of the people that work in the industry are white, but credit needs to be given where credit is due. For example, people have become outraged by the fact that Selma, a movie focused around black rights, was only nominated in two categories. You would think after 86 years of this event, the industry would recognize the controversy behind white washing these award shows.

In an online article from The Huffington Post, the issue is discussed in relation to past years Oscars awards and how the number of nominees are slowly becoming more diverse. So, I guess we can hope that in the next 50 years or so, we will see an accurate representation of more diversity in the nominees.

Impossible to please

Americans today tend to believe that if they are not a size two or don’t look like their favorite celebrity, there is something wrong with them. But in actuality, that is far from the truth.

The media plays a major role in how society negatively feels toward their own bodies. They publicize the figures of celebrities and then go on to criticize that they are either too skinny or too fat. So, what does an acceptable body size look like in the eyes of the media? Let’s be real, nobody knows. When they are not writing meaningless articles about who’s losing or gaining weight, they are taking matters into their own hands and photoshopping pictures to the point where it is an unrealistic representation of the human body. Let’s face it, even celebrities can’t win when it comes to having the “perfect” body.

Recently, a website called ThrivingCeleb published an article about 15 celebrities that gained a lot of weight. It started out by saying “Gaining weight has happened to just about everyone but we never really expect it to happen to some of our favorite celebrities”. I’m sorry, are celebrities not human enough to gain weight like everyone else? I don’t get it. The article goes on to list individual celebrity pictures in addition to the website’s unnecessary (and rude!) commentary. Magazines don’t just stop at weight gain though, JuicyCeleb recently published an article on celebrities who are too thin in which they titled it “18 ANOREXIC THIN Celebrities that need a few Big Macs!” Because Big Macs are the healthy cure to everything, right?

Our generation is heavily influenced by living up to the standards that the media sets. Young boys and girls today look up to celebrities as role models and if they are being criticized for their bodies, what will those same boys and girls think about their own bodies? The media takes the matter even further by photoshopping almost any picture they can get their hands on. A positive article by Beauty Redefined does a great job at explaining the harsh reality behind how the media distorts pictures to create an impossible body image most of society strives to achieve. This article ends by saying that what we see in the media is altered and we should not base our bodies off of something that isn’t real; a lesson that is not taught as much as it needs to be.

I agree that recognizing certain weight gains and losses are necessary for health concerns, but the way the media portrays this issue is just ridiculous and causes a lot more damage than it should. Magazine articles should not be criticizing or altering anyone’s body for the purpose of entertainment. Those same articles should be focused on accepting every body type and being proud of what you have. Ultimately, no one should have to question the way they look because of the nonsense the media puts out.

Just an example of media foolishness

And the award goes to…

In honor of the Grammys tonight, let’s see how the media is going to tune in.

The Grammys are an annual award show that recognizes the hard work and achievements of those in the music industry. This award show has been celebrating artists for over 50 years, so you would think the media would focus on the actual musical content, right? Well, that is somewhat correct. They like to focus on everything that the company is doing wrong. Oh, and let’s not forget how important the celebrity outfits are! This HitFix article explains what it takes for artists to become nominees and winners of a Grammy. It discusses the long process that members and record companies take to determine the winners. The media, however, does not really see eye to eye with this method of choosing a winner.

The media likes to find any problem that they can with how certain things operate and then attempt to fix it. An article by Billboard lists ways to apparently improve the Grammys, or in this case, what they don’t like. Majority of other award shows allow fans to vote for who they think should win. Although I agree with active participation from the fans, I do think that this particular company method is appropriate for the Grammys. It allows artists to receive recognition for their work, rather than it just being a huge popularity contest.

Now, let’s get to the real reason the media pays attention to the Grammys! Sadly, it is not really because of the music; it is what everyone on the red carpet is wearing. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to look good while accepting an award, but does it really deserve countless articles? The Rolling Stone website expressed their thoughts on how they felt toward celebrity fashion at last year’s Grammy awards stating “To be honest, we were hoping for more”. Well, to be honest, I don’t think people care that much. Hopefully with this years Grammys, the media focuses a little bit more on praising the award winners instead of arguing why someone else should have won or how hideous their outfit is.

What do you guys think of the Grammy awards? And will you be watching tonight?

Just so you know, the nominees are..

Media: Nightmare dressed like a daydream?

In our generation, many opinions about celebrities are formed because of how the media portrays them. Country/Pop sensation, Taylor Swift, has been a recurring victim of these sad accusations. Over the years, Swift’s love life has always been the center of the public eye, from being labeled as a “serial dater” to “a psycho ex-girlfriend”. From her most recent album, her hit song “Blank Space” fights back against all the rumors in the best way possible; making fun of it. The song and video portray her as a crazy, clingy, and emotionally unstable girl who just goes through men, similar to the way the media has seen her in the past. The article from whosay provides feedback about Swift’s intentions and how she uses her songs to express her emotions about personal experiences.

So, why is it such a terrible act to write songs about your past experiences? The answer: it’s not! Singers write songs about their lives all the time! My question is, why is it such a terrible act for women to write songs about their past experiences? According to Slate, male singers such as Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars have written numerous songs about their ex-girlfriends or their current love lives and no one pays any attention to it. The sexist side of the media gives women a bad name just for sticking up for themselves. It is no secret that Swift has had her fair share of boyfriends over the years, and she certainly made it known by writing songs about those relationships, but that does not make her crazy; it makes her human! The media interprets showing emotion as a sign of weakness and finds a way to use it against people. Props to Taylor Swift for showing them up.

And just in case you have not seen the wonderful video of Blank Space. Here it is. You’re welcome.

Bare It All

It has become common today in the world of celebrity gossip to criticize and shame those who take pictures that show a little too much skin. Recently, Miley Cyrus received praise for providing V magazine with polaroids that show her close to nude. However, in the past, celebrities have gotten bad publicity for racy pictures that have surfaced on the internet of them that were suppose to be private. So, why is it okay for the media to condemn those who privately take pictures wearing little to nothing, but then praise those who share them publicly? The Daily Beast states that Cyrus is setting an excellent example by sharing her nude photos.

Although I agree that people should feel proud and comfortable in their own skin, I do not think that the news should be concerned with how people capture their bodies privately or publicly. Cyrus is well known for wearing outfits that cover little of her body and is no stranger to being the topic of nude gossip. With this in mind, it is not surprising that the media deems this as appropriate behavior. The problem occurs when celebrities, who are not well known for being as expressive as Cyrus, become the center of such a scandal. Stars such as Jennifer Lawrence and Vanessa Hudgens were publicly condemned when their private pictures were leaked. The media should focus on topics that allow women to feel happy and dignified about their bodies rather than tearing them down. Who cares if celebrities choose to take pictures of their bodies? Those celebrities should decide whether or not it is okay, not the media.