Slut Shaming and Trampire Trouble

The Huffington Post recently published this great article by Nico Lang about the ridiculousness and sadness that is the media circus surrounding the break up of Twilight stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson post cheating scandal.

How scary is it when the whole situation is laid out like this?

She's young and she made a mistake. It's hardly the first time that a 22-year-old has had an affair, and I'm not concerned for Kristen Stewart. She'll be fine, and this scandal will die down soon enough. The worst is already over.

But for young women, the culture of slut shaming that the Kristen Stewart scandal represents won't go away. I might not be concerned for K-Stew, but I am concerned for all the young women today who are tuned into this scandal, ones who are learning that it's not okay to screw up, ever. Chris Brown can publicly beat the hell out of his girlfriend but still be played on the radio and win Grammys. However, if you ever cheat on your boyfriend, your life is over and no one will ever want to be associated with you. Almost no one will blame the much-older guy you cheated with, and it might actually make him more famous andhelp his career. Few will care that he was your boss and in a position of authority or that he may have have taken advantage of your youth and relative inexperience. Everything is your fault, and your life will be threatened over it. If you are a trampire, you will be publicly staked for it, even though cheater Ashton Kutcher recently emerged relatively unscathed by the media. No one asked for him to be fired from Two and a Half Men.

Frankly it gives me the shivers.

So does reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan--the early 60s feminist classic I've been reading that rips the idea of 50s femininity to shreds-- because in so many ways NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

If I'm going to be at all hopeful though and not drive the rest of my day into a ditch, I suppose I should end on a note that Obama struck last night in his DNC speech in which he reminded us all that change is still a great thing to hope for, but man, does it take time and effort. I'd really like to think that we can do it.