You know how all the news sources cover celebrity parenting like we'll just die if we don't know who held their baby over a pit of wild vipers and paparazzi and which celeb doesn't even know how to install a child safety seat? Well, when I saw this bit on how women celebs get more media focus for their antics than the dudes, I wondered if the same held true for celebrity parenting. After all, two of the examples given--Britney Spears and Heath Ledger--fit the parent bill as well. (And let me just say for the record that when the author of that bit says "It's time to bring some quality journalism attention to both
sides of this equation and highlight these struggles before anyone else
dies unexpectedly" I groan "Puhleeze". The media is gonna save lives by reporting early on the fact that so-and-so is depressed or a drug addict? Quick, get photos of him taking his anti-anxiety meds, before it's too late!)
I'm usually the first person to hammer about gender inequity, and how women often get flack for the same behaviors guys get a pass on. But in the case of many celebrities, I have to say that outlandishness trumps the male-female thing most often. Michael Jackson and Steve Irwin both received criticism for holding their babies in unsafe ways, and the Hoff was slammed when his kids videotaped him drunk. And who could forget Alec Baldwin's insane phone conversation with his child? I think Britney has gotten more crap than Heath Ledger ever did because she and her crew have always courted the tabloids. Now some sexist notions may still apply, like the fact that everyone questions Brit's custody issues while male stars may never even see their kids, but for the most part, I think star power and the perceived level of the crime against kids play a bigger role than whether the parent in question is mom or dad.
But please, tell me if I'm wrong, before I lose my women's studies badge.
