Amongst the cake decorating and dog tricks, I was surprised when Blake Lively’s fall from grace popped up in my feed. The algorithm, in its infinite wisdom, had decided that my gender, age, and penchant for feminist rants, made me the perfect candidate for this content.
Namely, a young woman fervently lecturing the viewer that Blake Lively must be stripped of her celebrity status. The algorithm was correct: drawn in, I quickly unpacked the rap sheet of Lively’s offences.
Lively first caused controversy with her attitude during the publicity of her latest film, It Ends With Us. The film, based on the novel of the same title by Colleen Hoover, centres on domestic violence, with Lively playing the protagonist. However, Lively appears to be attempting Barbie-movie-esque marketing, encouraging cinema goers to “wear their florals,” pitching her new range of haircare products, and promoting her husband Ryan Reynold’s new film, earning criticism online for her insensitivity to the film’s subject matter.
Furthermore, a 2016 video of another interview with Lively has reemerged. Having recently announced her pregnancy, Lively is congratulated on “little bump” by the interviewer. The actress responds with a seemingly snide congratulations to the interviewer for her “little bump” before frostily continuing the interview. The interviewer was not pregnant and later revealed she is infertile, claiming this made Lively’s comment further hurtful.
Upon unearthing these revelations, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. To clarify, I wholeheartedly support holding people to account for their behaviour, especially those in powerful positions. Nevertheless, social media seemed full of creators vulturing around every record of Lively’s life to find further evidence of her unworthiness. Much of the narrative centred on an ethos of “girls support girls,” thus Lively must be brought down for her treatment of other women. To which end she should be brought down, and for whose vengeance, was unclear.
Although I love the girls supporting girls’ movement – from the trivialities of sharing lipstick in the bathroom to fighting systemic injustice arm in arm – framing the complete shredding of someone’s character as feminism does nothing to serve the movement. Nor does it recentre survivors of domestic abuse or navigate sensitive dialogue about women’s infertility. Furthermore, there is little distinction between Lively’s personal choices and her role as part of the film’s wider PR direction.
Lively has clearly made poor judgements and should make amends. Nevertheless, the potentially toxic side of “girls support girls” is that we could end up rehashing patriarchal demands for women to be perfect. Whilst there are women who have treated others poorly in the pursuit of power, fame, or success, many women simply make mistakes – as every human does. In an age where the person is the brand, and every moment is open for public scrutiny, such a conditional level of support implies that we are simply waiting for the next starlet to mess up – a standard which isn’t held for men. Of course, choosing to revoke support for repeated problematic behaviour is understandable within any relationship.
It is yet to be seen if or how Lively will respond to the speculation and criticism. But I hope that a heartfelt apology, adequate reparations, and a sincere effort to do better would be welcomed. I hope that as a collective, we girls could show that we support not perfection, but persistence to try again. Girls should support girls, through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
“Blake Lively – ‘Cafe Society’ Opening Gala At Cannes Film Festival 2016” by centuryblack9 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
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Blake Lively: feminism and perfectionism
Amongst the cake decorating and dog tricks, I was surprised when Blake Lively’s fall from grace popped up in my feed. The algorithm, in its infinite wisdom, had decided that my gender, age, and penchant for feminist rants, made me the perfect candidate for this content.
Namely, a young woman fervently lecturing the viewer that Blake Lively must be stripped of her celebrity status. The algorithm was correct: drawn in, I quickly unpacked the rap sheet of Lively’s offences.
Lively first caused controversy with her attitude during the publicity of her latest film, It Ends With Us. The film, based on the novel of the same title by Colleen Hoover, centres on domestic violence, with Lively playing the protagonist. However, Lively appears to be attempting Barbie-movie-esque marketing, encouraging cinema goers to “wear their florals,” pitching her new range of haircare products, and promoting her husband Ryan Reynold’s new film, earning criticism online for her insensitivity to the film’s subject matter.
Furthermore, a 2016 video of another interview with Lively has reemerged. Having recently announced her pregnancy, Lively is congratulated on “little bump” by the interviewer. The actress responds with a seemingly snide congratulations to the interviewer for her “little bump” before frostily continuing the interview. The interviewer was not pregnant and later revealed she is infertile, claiming this made Lively’s comment further hurtful.
Upon unearthing these revelations, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. To clarify, I wholeheartedly support holding people to account for their behaviour, especially those in powerful positions. Nevertheless, social media seemed full of creators vulturing around every record of Lively’s life to find further evidence of her unworthiness. Much of the narrative centred on an ethos of “girls support girls,” thus Lively must be brought down for her treatment of other women. To which end she should be brought down, and for whose vengeance, was unclear.
Although I love the girls supporting girls’ movement – from the trivialities of sharing lipstick in the bathroom to fighting systemic injustice arm in arm – framing the complete shredding of someone’s character as feminism does nothing to serve the movement. Nor does it recentre survivors of domestic abuse or navigate sensitive dialogue about women’s infertility. Furthermore, there is little distinction between Lively’s personal choices and her role as part of the film’s wider PR direction.
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Lively has clearly made poor judgements and should make amends. Nevertheless, the potentially toxic side of “girls support girls” is that we could end up rehashing patriarchal demands for women to be perfect. Whilst there are women who have treated others poorly in the pursuit of power, fame, or success, many women simply make mistakes – as every human does. In an age where the person is the brand, and every moment is open for public scrutiny, such a conditional level of support implies that we are simply waiting for the next starlet to mess up – a standard which isn’t held for men. Of course, choosing to revoke support for repeated problematic behaviour is understandable within any relationship.
It is yet to be seen if or how Lively will respond to the speculation and criticism. But I hope that a heartfelt apology, adequate reparations, and a sincere effort to do better would be welcomed. I hope that as a collective, we girls could show that we support not perfection, but persistence to try again. Girls should support girls, through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
“Blake Lively – ‘Cafe Society’ Opening Gala At Cannes Film Festival 2016” by centuryblack9 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
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