In a world inundated with constant information thrown at people worldwide, it can be challenging to sift through the worthwhile news. One form of news mainly looked down upon is “gossip news.”
A particular story that pops up in this genre of information is celebrity divorce and the effect this divorce has on the general public as the wife or mother of the relationship seems to be under a specific microscope of attention rather than the husband.
This is evident based on recent drama involving singer Joe Jonas and actress Sophie Turner and is especially the case when stories like these involve children or familial disputes. Although this trend is not always the case in certain situations within our culture, it is frequent throughout the years of women portrayed in the media.
Director of women and gender studies at UTEP, Dr. Hilda Ontiveros breaks down the common reactions to this and the specificities behind mothers portrayed in the media.
“Well traditionally, women, especially moms, face more scrutiny because we live in this social construct; we abide by the social construct called the good girl/bad girl dichotomy,” Ontiveros said. “So you’re either going to behave like a virginal character, a mom who raises children at home doing what she is supposed to, or you like to party, educate, and self-care. You’re placed into the ’whore’ part of the binary.”
Ontiveros speaks to how this trend stems from tradition and how it can subtly stay in our culture today.
“I think it has a lot to do with tradition and (some) humans thinking in terms of binaries or dichotomies,” Ontiveros said. “We haven’t completely learned to accept that everything has a spectrum. Moms (women) live within a spectrum, there is not just a good girl or bad girl. We are three-dimensional humans.”
Multimedia journalism student Julian Medina expresses his thoughts on how women, specifically mothers, are portrayed in the media.
“When the women are the ones that mess up, they’re even looked more down upon because they’re not supposed to fail with childcare, but that’s not the reality,” Medina said. “I’ve seen in experience where in a parenting situation, both are equally as bad. I think that kind of perspective and mentality (old tradition) still continues into today’s world.”
Nursing student Ashley Aparicio-Tamayo comments her thoughts on the issue.
“I think it is unfair that women are treated this way, specifically those in the spotlight, such as this actress (Sophie Turner),” Aparicio-Tamayo said. “It is mainly because society is so focused on male validation and praise.”
Tamayo later went to discuss the behavior behind specific reactions to mothers in the media.
“So, when a woman does something wrong or goes through a rough patch, she’s immediately looked down upon. ‘Why did you handle this differently? You have children (so) you have to maintain this personality and phase,’ It’s just unfair,” Tamayo said.
All kinds of stories are being put to the forefront, whether they are people within a specific spotlight or have everyday working-class lives. Although we may not ever be able to know celebrities like the Jonas couple, it’s important to know that many people go through this treatment famous or not.
H. Catching Marginot is a staff reporter and can be reached at [email protected]
