In the entertainment industry, fame can be a double-edged sword for women. Time and time
again, a familiar pattern appears: a woman gains rapid popularity, constant media attention,
and intense public admiration. However, this admiration is typically short-lived. Suddenly,
the same woman who was once celebrated becomes labelled as “annoying”, “overbearing”, or
“too much”. As a result, she is pressured to hide, retreat from the opportunities she worked so
hard to achieve – often just as hard as her male counterparts.
This pattern can be seen in the careers of artists such as Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. At the
height of their popularity, both artists were adored for their music and hard work. Audiences
were captivated, eagerly watching every move of these popstars. Yet this enthusiasm is often
of short duration, quickly shifting to resentment over their constant visibility.
This transformation suggests that female success in entertainment is tolerated only to a
certain point. Once a women’s popularity becomes too large, it can begin to be seen as a
threat that needs to be handled. In contrast, male artists often experience the same visibility
without facing nearly the same amount of backlash. This difference highlights the
uncomfortable double standards in the music industry. In this kind of situation, men will
always have the upper hand.
The same phenomenon appears in film and television, where actresses frequently face
criticism for appearing in multiple successful projects. A prominent example of this is Anne
Hathaway. The actress rised in popularity following her roles in the “The Princess Diaries”
and “The devil wears Prada”. However, following her Academy Award win for her
performance in “Les Misérables”, She became the target of an online hate campaign coined
as “Hathahate” in 2013.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hathaway later explained the consequences of this backlash.
The actress states that “a lot of people wouldn’t give me roles, because they were so concerned
about how toxic my identity had become online”. This moment illustrates how online discourse can
influence the careers of female celebrities. It also reveals what seems to be a countdown on women’s
likability. The question is not whether they can reach success, but how long they will be allowed to
remain at the top before the public opinion turns on them.
And unfortunately, this negative discourse has not slowed down in recent years. Millie Bobby Brown
rose to fame through her role as Eleven in “Stranger things”. The actress experienced extreme
hostility online beginning when she was only 14 years old. Social media mocked her singing videos,
labelling them as “cringe” and “too much”. What began as admiration for the young girl turned
quickly into a widespread hate campaign. People even turned it into a trend to hate on the actress, a
young girl who was just being true to themselves.
This pattern in the media reflects a larger issue at hand. Female celebrities are often treated
as objects of consumption within the entertainment industry. At first, the industry promotes
them as objects of desire and attention. Their image and personalities are used for
marketing and a ploy to draw people in. When public interest wanes, the narrative shifts to
something darker, filled with disdain. It’s horrific how the industry that once admired them
can also amplify the backlash directed at them.
This pattern cannot go unrecognised any longer. The cycle of elevating women to extreme
levels only to criticize them later for their visibility reveals the misogyny still prevalent in the
entertainment industry. The industry needs to do better for women, to uplift them for their
achievements without the fear of punishment. And as an audience, we need to question this
pattern more, not blindly follow trends fuelled by hatred but question the media’s need to tear
down successful women. Women should be allowed to thrive without fear of consequences,
and that starts with change in the media and the audience.