Women are always being pitted against each other, especially women in the public eye. For years we have watched female after female meet their rival. The result, a never-ending conflict revolving around drama.
While it can be entertaining for a moment, hearing constant murmurs about who is a better person, Selena Gomez or Hailey Bieber, not only diminishes these women’s successful careers, but also boils them down to conflict over just some guy.
While I used to look at these stories as a source of entertainment, I have recently found a new outlook on the idea. Am I maturing?
It seems to me, now at least, that listening to these internet feud stories about women in the public eye is a waste of time. I don’t care about random gossip that’s going to end in an internet “cancellation” for one of these women. I would much rather hear positive stories about females supporting each other. I feel like seeing examples of strong female friendships and women supporting one another is more empowering and impactful than having so much negativity out there.
Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber are most definitely not the only two women to have conflict. There are countless other famous female feuds that have been blown out of proportion in the media.
In sports, you have Olympic skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, who fought over fame. In Hollywood, you get Jennifer Anniston and Angelina Jolley, and historic actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, both of whom fought over guys. And of course, in the music industry, we all know Katy Perry and Taylor Swift have bad blood.
Now in some cases, it’s not that there wasn’t real beef that started these conflicts, but there was too much attention that was drawn to the issue, which made it a huge problem.
Over publicizing and overdramatizing irrelevant arguments just gives money to the Hollywood machine. The only people who are benefiting from these feuds are the invasive and irresponsible paparazzi and news outlets. Meanwhile, two females suffer.
The worst part of these feuds are the fans that take it too far. As consumers of the media, we are told we need to choose a side of the argument and pick which person is in the right. Mass fans of these celebrities attack each other. Causing again, unnecessary conflict, hate and negativity.
It is real people’s lives who are on the line and are put on blast. Ironically, in the case of Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber their feud ended in the two “trauma-bonding” as Gomez had to issue a statement defending Bieber.
“Hailey Bieber reached out to me and let me know that she has been receiving death threats and such hateful negativity,” Gomez wrote via an Instagram Story. “This isn’t what I stand for. No one should have to experience hate or bullying. I’ve always advocated for kindness and really want this all to stop.”
Why is it that society feels the need to pit women against each other? I mean shouldn’t girls support girls? We create a skewed view of how women should treat each other when we subscribe to the idea that two women need to be put against one other all the time.
It’s no wonder that as a result of all these female feuds being shown in the media that individuals attempt to replicate it in real life. Regardless of what people think we are highly influenced by the media. It’s sad to see that unnecessary drama is reflected in day-to-day life.
My point is if there weren’t so many female feuds, perhaps it would be less popular for there to be “chick fights” amongst ordinary people. I hope that we can recognize this behavior for what it is, give it less attention and focus on positive female relationships instead.