[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-post-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”Black Han Sans|700||on|||||” header_text_align=”center” header_font_size=”46px” header_letter_spacing=”4px” custom_margin=”25px||5px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||true|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
WORDS:<\/strong> Georgia Aspinall<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-14-at-15.20.31.png” alt=”worst dressed lists” title_text=”Screenshot 2023-09-14 at 15.20.31″ force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n \u2018Oops! We forgot to put Mariah Carey in our \u201cFat Thighs\u201d story! On those porky pins, the pop princess is no dainty \u2018Butterfly\u2019. Her va-va-va-voom Versace couldn\u2019t be much shorter \u2013 it\u2019s barely bigger than a T-shirt! Why doesn\u2019t the suddenly single songbird just go naked?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n This was a quote published by a magazine in the noughties next to a picture of the ever-gorgeous Mariah Carey (under a column called \u2018Fashion victim of the week\u2019) that is currently going viral after one person posted a picture of the cut-out with the caption \u2018How did any female survive the early 2000s? Part 7\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reading the shocking column, one might breathe a sigh of relief that tabloid culture isn\u2019t so damaging anymore. That\u2019s how many are responding online anyway, with thousands of commenters wondering how newspapers \u2018used to\u2019 get away with being so cruel. \u2018So glad I didn\u2019t grow up as a teen\/young adult in the early 2000s because this is just brutal,\u2019 one person commented.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n And sure, many media organisations have certainly changed the way they talk about women\u2019s bodies, and female agency in general. We know how deadly body-shaming has been for women\u2019s psyches, and how slut-shaming contributes to rape culture, so it\u2019s no longer considered acceptable to do these things on a public stage. But let\u2019s be clear, the misogyny hasn\u2019t gone away, it\u2019s just become more insidious.\u00a0<\/p>\n Take \u2018Worst Dressed\u2019 lists for example, a noughties relic abandoned by many but still surviving in some areas.<\/p>\n After the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, many popped up and almost all of the \u2018worst dressed\u2019 women had the same thing in common: they weren\u2019t wearing much clothing at all. The lists were made up of, as expected, mostly women \u2013 men seemingly immune from this kind of ridicule. On one website\u2019s monster of a worst dressed list, Karol G in a sheer mermaid gown, Doja Cat in white webbed netting and Tinashe in black mesh were three of eight people placed on the list for \u2018baring it all\u2019. They\u2019re not the only ones either, a quick Google search and you\u2019ll see swathes out outlets listing what they consider to be \u2018fashion fumbles\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n And sure, we can all sit there and judge someone\u2019s outfit for being terrible if we really want to \u2013 it\u2019s a free world after all. Posting about it online feels unnecessary, but even so, one could argue that appearing on a red carpet for the purpose of publicity sanctions some level of public debate about what you\u2019re wearing. But that\u2019s the thing, it\u2019s never really just about what the person is wearing, is it? At least not for the worst offenders of this kind of traffic-grab.\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n In many cases, worst dressed lists are an excuse for tabloids to continue body shaming and slutshaming, just without directly calling celebrities \u2018porky\u2019 or implying their promiscuous with saucy similes. The mere fact that worst dressed lists typically include the least dressed celebrities tells you everything: they see women who dare to show their own skin as less desirable, the message being that women who cover up are more attractive \u2013 and in turn, valuable. Look closely at the copy and you\u2019ll still often still see the sassy quips about how little someone is wearing, appealing to readers who relish in judging women for everything they do from how they dress to the shape of their bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let’s not also forget that often these lists are later proved to be wrong by history – some of the most iconic red carpet dresses you can think of were one named ‘worst-dressed’. Take Bjork’s iconic swan dress for example.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a reason these lists still exist: there\u2019s still an appetite for them. Digital media outlets largely base their ideas for stories on analytics, be that Google search data showing a desire for more information on a topic, or a certain topic historically overperforming on clicks, by the likes of me and you. Thus, these stories simply would not be written if people weren\u2019t wanting, or likely, to click on them. So, are we the problem?\u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”custom-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”Libre Bodoni|||on|||||” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#333333″ header_2_font_size=”40px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n Scroll over to TikTok, and you\u2019ll get your answer. On the video app once reserved for children, adults post scathing takedowns of celebrities, relish in gossip about their sex lives and edit together pictures of terrible outfits to sad music. It\u2019s had a knock-on effect to all of us, TikTokers posting judgemental videos of random people out in public, \u2018storytime\u2019 videos about conversations they\u2019ve overheard in restaurants urging people on the app to find those involved in whatever bitching was happening.<\/p>\n The app that used to be filled with comedy skits and dance videos is now a hotbed of celebrity and public gossip alike, where comment sections are filled with horrendous takes and trolling \u2013 it\u2019s feels like live, video version of Tattle Life. There simply is no anonymity anymore, anyone is capable of going viral whether they know they\u2019ve been filmed or not \u2013 all based on our relentless desire for scandal and innate judging of others. Worst dressed lists, then, are a small part of what\u2019s becoming a merciless online culture where anyone can fall foul of being torn apart. \u00a0<\/p>\n So, to all of the people that sigh in relief that tabloid culture isn\u2019t so explicitly damaging anymore, I implore you to look at your \u2018For You\u2019 Page. Are we not still in the same place now, except we \u2013 the average Joe \u2013 are now increasingly part of the problem? Judgement and misogyny have not gone away just because it\u2019s not acceptable to say publicly anymore \u2013 it\u2019s just moved onto social media. \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n IMAGE: Getty<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Looking back at the horrendous takedowns of celebrities, we haven\u2019t much moved on at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"revans","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The lists were made up of, as expected, mostly women \u2013 men seemingly immune from this kind of ridicule<\/h2>\n
some of the most iconic red carpet dresses you can think of were one named ‘worst-dressed’<\/h2>\n
Worst dressed lists, then, are a small part of what\u2019s becoming a merciless online culture where anyone can fall foul of being torn apart.<\/h2>\n