Media misogyny plays puppet master to fictional feuds

“Pop pair break up with 'major trust issues,’ while fans note with dismay Bieber's appearance at a Victoria's Secret fashion show” was a very real, very 2012 “The Guardian” headline perfectly describing the first tragic end of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship. But it was just that, 2012. An eight-year on-and-off relationship between two young adults. And yet this decaying horse continues to be beaten even into and after marriage and single life through a so-called “feud” between Hailey and Selena. But how and why is this happening? 

The whole situation screams Hollywood just trying to pit two women against each other for the millionth time. The majority of the tabloids claim Hailey Bieber won’t stop “beliebin’” in her failing marriage, but it’s important to understand the facts here. Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber’s relationships with Bieber were disgustingly close. Gomez and Justin Bieber dated famously between 2010-2018. The relationship was notorious for being on and off and seriously toxic. The couple, after one of their many breakups, got back together briefly in 2018 and only a few months later Hailey and Justin got married. 

Hailey has confirmed that she didn’t try to “steal” Justin or ruin anyone’s relationship purposefully. She and Justin were never together while Gomez and Justin were. Why, then, does Hollywood keep pinning these two women against each other even almost five years after the initial “feud” happened? 

Well, in February 2023, Hailey Bieber and Kylie Jenner were accused of shading Selena’s eyebrows and she responded with a Tiktok (or something of equal insignificance), causing a fan war to begin yet again. Yes, Hailey Bieber has been getting death threats and people are picking sides over a comment about her eyebrows. But there has to be more, right? It doesn’t make sense for this tiny feud to be so huge just because of an eyebrow comment, right? 

Well, this isn’t the first time that Hollywood has done this. Katy v. Taylor, Nicki v. Miley, Joan v. Bette, and now Selena v. Hailey. Most of the time that this happens, either one of the people in the feud have publicly claimed no ill-will toward the other person. Gomez said on her Instagram story that “Hailey Bieber reached out to me and said she’s been receiving death threats…this isn’t what I stand for.” But despite this fact, people in the entertainment industry love to pit women against each other, but why?

The major reason here is just that they don’t want two powerful females existing at the same time-- or in the entertainment industry, at least. The short, quick answer is misogyny, beauty standards, and the patriarchy. 99% of the time these feuds are just formulated by the tabloids. These women don’t actually hate each other; these stories just continue to get formulated to remind them of their “place” in Hollywood. They are made out to be dramatic, emotion-driven cartoon characters. But we’ve supposedly come so far in terms of change, why is this so persistent? 

One reason is the sexist narrative that women are only vessels of desire. That they are somehow unimportant if they are not physically attractive. So, female influencers are expected to be the prettiest person in the room. Other women are viewed as the enemy, someone you have to boot out for the better role, commercial, movie, or award, or in this case, “the one” for Justin Bieber. And so that is why feuds are so common in Hollywood between women, and why they continue to be falsely created. Because this narrative of competition between women is so commonplace and it gets to be exaggerated.

So, silly fights between two women in the industry about eyebrows become so huge because of simple misogyny. But there is something very important to note about this specific situation; there’s a man involved. In reality, Hailey and Gomez only began “feuding” when Hailey “stole” Justin from Gomez, even though both have publicly claimed that that isn’t what happened. Yes, Hailey and Justin got married suspiciously fast considering when he and Gomez cut ties, but still, is that really completely Hailey’s fault? Women constantly get blamed for things that should be blamed on men. The same people sending death threats to Hailey Bieber ask for zero accountability from Justin. Justin has not said a single word about the entire situation, even though his wife has been getting constantly attacked online. Hailey is obviously not completely innocent in this situation, but both of the people in the relationship should be held accountable, and not just women so TMZ can make up another feud between two female celebs. 

What do we do to fix it? If this is so ingrained in the entertainment industry, what can we really do to stop it? Well, the simple answer is to stop doing it, to realize that these women are completely and wholeheartedly

By Anika Flores

April 24 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue VII