I saw this on my Facebook today and it got me thinking about how we remember famous women. In Hepburn's case, I think this graphic minimizes her film successes (Breakfast at Tiffany's, anyone?) but does so in order to prove a valid point. I did not know Hepburn was a Goodwill Ambassador or about her Presidential Medal of Freedom and I think most people would agree that one of the first things that comes to mind when someone mentions Audrey Hepburn is her beauty.
This one-dimensional focus on a single facet of who Hepburn was is problematic, of course, but there are worse things than being remembered by history for your attractive appearance.
Just ask Monica Lewinsky.
Until her Ted Talk a few weeks ago, her name probably did not trigger connections to essayist, Masters, or social activist. She was merely 24 years old when her personal life became the focus of not only a federal investigation, but also the entire nation, including the relentless media, late night hosts, and scandal-crazed public. Her parents even worried she would quite literally be humiliated to death.
In the talk, Lewinsky describes "The Price of Shame" and advocates for a more compassionate social media environment, as one of the first to experience the "culture of humiliation". She is now using her voice to take a stance against cyber-bullying.
In a NPR Interview, New York Times contributor, Jessica Bennett describes the changing media landscape:
I think that over time there's been some public reckoning. And it's been interesting to talk to media folks about this who covered it at the time and now even look back on their stories and think, huh, that wasn't quite fair. I think that a lot of the language that was used back then - you know, she was called a tart, a tramp, basically everything but slut, publicly - it would never fly today.While the apparent success Monica has had rebranding since the Ted Talk is encouraging, the idea that this bright woman will probably still be forever remembered by many for her personal life at age 24 is upsetting to say the least. On the other hand, Bill Clinton has had arguably more influence and success after his presidency and is not only known internationally, but respected. When you think of Bill Clinton, his foundation or work abroad might come to mind first, and his infidelity much, much later if at all.
So if Hepburn, an actress and humanitarian, is remembered as "pretty", Lewinsky, with a Masters in Social Psychology and a successful activist campaign after her Ted Talk, is remembered, if I'm being generous, as "a joke", and Bill Clinton is remembered as "a leader" with little to no attention paid to his transgressions, is it really possible to deny a gender bias?
Who is controlling how these famous figures are portrayed and eventually immortalized? The media certainly plays a role and perhaps is now understanding the sensitivity and decency that should accompany that responsibility. There needs to be a change in not just the content that is created but in who is creating it. We need female content creators and we need feminist media consumers to demand this and until then, read everything with an awareness of a clear bias favoring males.
To read that Audrey Hepburn had accomplished so much in her lifetime that we were unaware of was extremely disheartening for me. I think that as women a lot of times we’re expected to not do much except focus on our looks. The fact that Hepburn and Lewinsky were both so accomplished and such smart women but were remembered for the wrong things only goes to further prove the point that society judges women in a different light than they do men. As weird as this is going to sound I was watching an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians last night and in the episode Khloe and Scott were going to a Halloween party where she was dressed up as a kitty with a mask that covered half her face and he was dressed up as a Sheikh. Both Khloe and Scott posted a picture of their costumes together on Instagram and Khloe started to receive mean comments one after the other while Scott received only positive comments in regards to the same picture. The truth of the matter is that men and women are held to different calibers in our society. While one action ends up warranting praise, the same action warrants belittlement simply because it was done by a woman. We need to stop remembering women for things that men are easily able to get away with. We need to stop slut shaming women when men are praised for doing the same thing. If we are to accomplish equality we need to change people’s mentality in regards to the double standards that operate within our society.
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ReplyDeleteOnce I read your blog, the word that immediately came to mind was double standard. When we take a look at our present society we see how situations like a man talking to 3 ladies and women talking to 3 men can be exactly similar but extremely different at the same time. The reactions that people have, in many cases, are mainly always negative for the women and positive, or even forgotten/disregarded, for the men (as seen in this case for Bill Clinton). While men are glamorized for being pimps, women are insulted and humiliated for technically, if seen in the eyes of men, also being a 'pimp', because if you look at the situation, it is exactly the SAME.
ReplyDeleteThe question that then comes to mind is: Why are these situations reacted to in such different ways? I personally do not know. But I know that in my culture, machismo has continued this belief of men superiority over women and that having many girls symbolizes masculinity. I'm not saying that all men believe this, but as far as I've been able to tell, some do think that having more and more women shows how "manly" one is. I find this to be extremely ridiculous.
In this situation it is unfortunate to see how a controversy that involved 2 people just sticks and stigmatizes one, the women. While Bill Clinton is not solely remembered by this scandal, Hepburn's name is tied to it. Therefore, I agree with your statement. I think any source of media must be well aware that anything published can, and will, affect the life of an individual and so they must not express any bias or double standard.
Another famous actress, Shirley Temple, too led a life of politics and success after her acting career. She became very involved in the Republican party, then she started a life of foreign service where she became a US Ambassador to Ghana. It is interesting to think about never even being exposed to this information, as we just remember Shirley Temple for her cute curls and animal crackers. In the same way, after watching Lewinsky's ted talk, I gained different insight to her side of the story. We often just place Lewinsky in the wrong, which goes along with what you speak to in your blog regarding the double standard of men and women. It is not too often that you hear someone placing the blame on Bill Clinton. What really got me was when Lewinsky said she was young and simply fell in love with her boss-but her boss happened to be the president. From that point on, her life was ruined. Her accomplishments will never cover up the scandal she was involved in and it is the sad fact that it will always be a part of her. However, like you mention, it is up to society to choose how to remember her. It seems society has already chosen, but hopefully her recent coming out will help to change that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. There is nothing that gets my blood boiling more than a double standard. I cannot imagine being in Monica Lewinsky’s shoes, where your name is the butt of popular jokes, and connotes nothing but scandal and sex. It is no surprise that the humiliation brought her to depression. Although Lewinsky was not a minor, she was still caught in an inferior-superior relationship that makes President Clinton the one responsible. This slut shaming reminds me of an incident at my high school, where a sophomore girl had an affair with a married math teacher. The girl was not the most well-liked at our school, but people loved the math teacher. The way people spoke about the controversy blamed the girl for getting the beloved math teacher fired, and the girl was shamed to the point of transferring. Though she technically “consented” to the relationship (I was in a country without consent laws), she was too young and in a position of inferiority where the blame should be placed 100% on the adult. It is sickening to watch women be shamed time and time again – we tend to operate under the belief that men are helpless sexual fiends and women are the ones to blame for transgressions because we are meant to be less impulsive and less sexual. I appreciate you looking at how women are remembered, because it tells us a lot about our value system when it comes to female worth.
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