No Men Allowed...?!

Upon reading, The tabs: no men allowed...Why do the gossip rags only feature women when there are so many stories of male stars behaving badly?, I realized how right they are. Men are not featured in tabloids nearly as often as women. Now, why is that? Macleans makes many arguments for why this is and the more I read, the more I agree with them.

The behaviour that tabloids tend to focus on is that which has been deemed "inappropriate" for women, such as excessive drinking and lude sexual activities. An example of this is Britney Spears appearing stoned and acting very much in a manner only acceptable for males.

Although in the present age, we are a more accepting society, we still have limits. Men seem to still be allowed to follow the double-standard of the "Boys will be boys" ideation that society accepts. For males, alcohol, drugs and sex are not considered unacceptable to the same extent as women. Male celebrities usually only make it to the tabloids when they make racist or bigot comments. One possibility Macleans makes is that the tabloids are playing the role that religion or tradition used to fill: the enforcement of what they view as the rules.

Another reason that tabloids focus on women is that most readers of gossip are women. It is sensical to think that women prefer to read about other women as they have more opportunity to relate. The article stated that women who read these tabloids (at least subconsciously) imagine themselves as part of that world. "They want the men to be Prince Charmings and the women to be evil stepsisters". As well, it is said that women have an innate interest in other women.

Not only do women enjoy reading about other women, but many of these young stars have been idolized as role models for young girls and their falling off the sane wagon has merited lots of attention. Some of the issues these celebrities are facing, such as eating disorders, some young women can relate to which is another source of interest in these female-focused tabloids. There is a certain disappointment, yet fascination "to see them fall from grace".

Overally, I agree with these arguments made by Macleans. It appears that the purpose of tabloid gossip is to punish celebrities for bad behaviour, though the definition of "bad behaviour" varies for both men and women in all aspects of life.

But what does all of this say about the people who read this sort of empty, pointless trash? Is it a meaningless past-time? Lifestyle? Who knows...