Keris Stainton takes a diversion in her search for a young feminist role model...
A bit of a departure this week, because quite clearly Paris Hilton is not a role model. In fact, there's really nothing about her that I would suggest any woman emulate. She's privileged, spoiled, and believes herself to be above the law. But - and it's a big but - she's both enormously popular and quite openly loathed. Why?
Heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune, Paris really became famous, or rather infamous, when an amateur sex video of her with then boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked onto the Internet in 2003. Before long she was featuring in, inevitably, a reality series, The Simple Life. She's had a couple of film roles and, last year, released an album. I have no idea whether or not she's talented as an actress or singer, but I'm not sure that really matters.
She has also written a book, designed handbags and jewellery and created a perfume. According to Forbes Magazine, Hilton earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004, $6.5 million in 2004–2005, and $7 million in 2005–2006, suggesting she's perhaps not as dumb as people like to think. Or is she?
Her recent legal problems seem to suggest perhaps she is. After being arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol in 2006, her licence was suspended and she was given 36 months probation.
But in January this year, she was pulled over for driving with a suspended license and signed a document acknowledging that she was not permitted to drive. In February she was caught driving again, this time she was over the speed limit and didn't have her headlights on even though it was after dark. She was was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation.
And this is where, for me, it all gets a bit much. I've found the coverage of the Paris Hilton case fascinating and horrifying. Though I absolutely agree that she had to go to prison, I'm disturbed by the amount of glee with which the whole thing has been greeted.
I think the picture of her crying on her way back to prison - along with the description of what happened in court (where Paris cried out, "It's not right! Mom!") - really upsetting and not at all amusing.
Yes, she's spoilt. Yes, she never dreamt this would happen and, yes, it's probably going to do her good that it has, but that doesn't make me happy.
What I don't really get is the public's hatred of her. I mean, she's cashed in on people's obsession with her and what's wrong with that? Do we hate her because we're obsessed with her and that makes us feel bad about ourselves?
And why is she perceived differently to Jordan? I mean, Jordan is a glamour model and yet people, particularly women, seem happy to accept that "Jordan" is a Katie Price creation and that Katie Price is actually a rather astute businesswoman. Why is no-one willing to believe the same of Paris?
In a feature in The Guardian, Paris suggests she's not what she seems. "People are surprised when they meet me because they assume I'm going to be completely different." When asked if it makes her laugh when people assume she's stupid, she answered, "Yeah, I'm laughing all the way to the bank ..."
Certainly, she's not a good role model, but I also think a lot of the vitriol directed at Paris is misogynist in nature (yes, even women can be misogynist).
This can be seen particularly in the categorisation of her as a slut. When she claimed to have been punched in the face at a nightclub, MSNBC news anchor Keith Oberman said - on air - "Well, she's had worse things happen to her face" and the accompanying news clip was titled "A slut and battery". So this is how we're reporting assaults on women now? Aside from the fact that no woman should be called a slut (particularly not on a news programme, for god's sake) Paris is a young single woman whose sex life is her own business (yes, even if you can't watch an episode of it online).
As Jill at Feministe put it, "Her sexual actions have been, by all accounts, fully consensual... And yet having someone ejaculate on her face is “worse” than being punched."
I don't actually believe Keith Olberman the anchor in question thought it was "worse", I think he found it less acceptable, which is pretty horrifying in itself.
Jill again: "And this is why Olberman’s comment bothered me: because he’s buying into that same paradigm, using it to slut-shame Paris, and through that reminding all women that our sexual status is more valuable than our physical safety. Something that makes us “whores,” even if it’s consensual and not painful, is worse than something which leaves us physically bruised. The fact that this view isn’t uncommon — and was used as a cheap joke on a “progressive” television segment — speaks volumes."
Yes, Paris is anti-feminist, but so, in my opinion, is the media's treatment of her and we certainly should at the very least be aware of that.
