Cast your mind back to February 16, 2007. The final instalment of the Harry Potter books is yet to be released. George W. Bush is in the White House. The Iraq War rages on. John Howard is nearing the end of his 11-year Prime Ministership. Meanwhile, in the tabloids, the Holy Trinity rules — Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are often seen partying together, and featured heavily on Perez Hilton’s blog.
That night, Britney Spears is trailed by paparazzi into Esther’s Haircutting Studio in Tarzana, California, where she demands to have her head shaved. When they refuse, she does it herself, igniting a media frenzy and rumours of a ‘meltdown’ which would spur on months of negative media coverage, the loss of custody of her children, and eventually lead to her conservatorship a year later.
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At the time, celebrities — particularly young, female celebrities — were fair game for tabloid fodder. Their mental health issues were handled recklessly, and considered an excellent angle for selling gossip magazines. It’s no exaggeration to say that the media — and the culture at large — had a hand in Britney’s much-publicised downfall, particularly as many consider Princess Diana's death ten years earlier to be the result of the paparazzi. It was as if nothing had changed.
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But in the fifteen years since Britney’s ‘meltdown’ was relentlessly and intricately chronicled in the media, the public has become less accepting of toxic media coverage of celebrities.
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But in the fifteen years since Britney’s ‘meltdown’ was relentlessly and intricately chronicled in the media, eventually aiding in her effective imprisonment under a mental health order, the public has become less accepting of toxic media coverage of celebrities.
The #FreeBritney movement has shone a light on the power the media cycle can have over someone’s life and freedom — and the fact that almost always, that spotlight is targeted at famous women. Our fascination with these women — young, rich and talented — hasn’t changed since that fateful night in Tarzana, California, but the way those women participate in that narrative certainly has.
How has social media impacted the way celebrities engage in the media cycle?
The rise of social media has been a mixed bag of positives and negatives. But while young women have often been the subject of questionable headlines, social media has offered them the ability to capture the attention of a huge audience through a direct line of communication, bypassing traditional media. And it's flipped the power balance.
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Suddenly, there was no need for nefarious relationships with media outlets and secret leaks to selected journalists in the hope they would convey your message to the letter. From the humble Myspace beginnings to today’s TikTok evolution, celebrities regained control. How they're perceived can now be carefully crafted and painstakingly curated. Young women, in particular, have the power to connect with their peers in the absence of a third party — usually controlled by old men — and are able to refute stories personally and immediately.
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Whether it's Julia Fox delivering a ‘middle class’ house tour of her approachable and authentic apartment, or Kendall Jenner poking fun at her inability to cut cucumber, #owningit has become an integral part of conveying that narrative.
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Interestingly, however, as social media evolves, we’ve seen the rise of supposed authenticity — and I say ‘supposed’, because is anyone actually authentic with a full face of makeup, circle lighting and designer-gifted clothing? Alas, despite the pomp, the rise of ‘realness’ on socials has captured the imagination of the public of late.
Whether it's Julia Fox delivering a ‘middle class’ house tour of her approachable and authentic apartment, or Kendall Jenner poking fun at her inability to cut cucumber, #owningit has become an integral part of conveying that narrative.
When we look at Julia Fox’s social media presence in particular, her unapologetically ‘real’ social media persona has been the key to flipping her media discourse. Transforming her own headlines from labels of a 'gold-digging girlfriend of Kanye' to quirky fashion girl who is authentic, approachable and middle class — a person who finds displays of wealth “icky”, despite her reported personal net worth of USD$30 million (which she denies) — is an excellent way to distance herself from Kanye’s own spiralling public persona. By inherently rejecting what he and Kim represented — the elite, the wealthy, the billionaires — she is placing herself into the context of the moment — recession, reality, Democratic-leaning — without saying a bad word against him.
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That one TikTok house tour did the work of five hard-working PRs.
How does this tie into the social media marketing behemoth that is the Kardashian machine?
Like it or not, the Kardashians are the ultimate example of young women now controlling their own media discourse. The original social media stars and savvy self-marketers have managed to leverage their mammoth combined social media following to control their public narrative to a mind-blowing level of intricacy. (If you have any doubts about how planned the Kardashian empire’s social media posts are, try following Kardashian Kolloquium, my favourite account on the internet right now).
However, the Kardashians have one power move up their sleeve that others don’t (well, besides Kris Jenner) and that is the sheer number of them. They're able to ‘bomb’ our feeds with repetitive narratives, bolster them to each other’s audiences, then back it up with reinforcement of the message on their reality show.
Each sister has a clearly defined role in the family, each different, and strategically enhanced through their multiple lifestyle businesses to generate wealth. In particular, they’re exceedingly good at taking negative coverage and spinning it into more wealth. Khloe’s Good American clothing line, in multiple sizes, profits off the tired media narrative that she’s the ‘fat sister’. Kylie’s original lip kits spun rumours of lip enhancements into a billion-dollar business.
Kendall, meanwhile, has learned her lesson following the public fallout from her protest-themed Pepsi ad after it was accused of trivialising the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, instead of joining the prevailing social conversation of the moment, she crafts advertisements around her own narrative in order to further solidify her public persona. Just look at the Uber Eats cucumber ad, where she's portrayed as the laid-back sister who occasionally has brain farts, but is actually simultaneously in touch with the common person — supposedly unlike her rich, shiny siblings.
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If it doesn’t make sense on paper — that the supermodel, who is so out of touch she doesn’t know how to cut a cucumber, could possibly be the most down-to-earth of the clan — it almost doesn’t have to.
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If it doesn’t make sense on paper — that the supermodel, who is so out of touch she doesn’t know how to cut a cucumber, could possibly be the most down-to-earth of the clan — it almost doesn’t have to. As long as we inherently make that connection, and the conversation repeatedly reinforces it, we believe it. And in the meantime, not only does Jenner actively get to participate in a cultural moment about her and retrospectively gains clout for #owningit, she also lucratively monetises a public oopsie.
Carly Dober, Psychologist and Headspace App’s Mental Health Expert, tells Refinery29 Australia that owning these kinds of narratives — intended initially to ridicule or embarrass celebrities — is key to ensuring positive mental health outcomes for these young women.
“Narratives are important for our mental health. We don't just tell stories; stories tell us. They shape our thoughts and memories and even change how we live our lives. Storytelling is not just how we construct our identities — stories are our identities.”
“Women are also very easy targets for social media and media takedowns, as there are still power imbalances — and this is even worse for marginalised communities. Young women are especially vulnerable, as this is a key developmental period for them.”
So what does this movement say about feminism and pop culture?
A few months ago, a questionable — and now infamous — New York Magazine issue dropped, featuring eight famous “nepo babies” on the cover. It was an exhaustive deep dive into celebrities who are the children of famous parents, that brought to mind the glory days of celebrity mania. Though exposing perceived nepotism within Hollywood wasn’t a particularly enlightening angle for readers (who now know more about young celebrities than ever before), the reaction from those women that were singled out certainly was something to talk about.
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Lily-Rose Depp publicly took aim at the patriarchy, asking why her career had to be defined by the men in her life. Hailey Bieber was snapped by paparazzi in a white t-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Nepo Baby’ — another case of #owningit to assert her agency in the conversation and insert herself into the narrative, without saying a word.
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Hailey Bieber was snapped by paparazzi in a white t-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Nepo Baby’ — another case of #owningit to assert her agency in the conversation and insert herself into the narrative, without saying a word.
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Viral social media moments are a valuable promotional and reputational tool. Here, Bieber knowingly generated her own viral moment to effectively end the media cycle around a news story — and whether or not you agree that “owning” your nepotism is a smart move, it was certainly a powerful way to cut the conversation short. After all, why gossip about someone if they’ve already acknowledged your barb?
Nowadays, women are shaping the big cultural conversations, particularly about themselves — and it’s changing the face of media consumption. The rise of the non-celebrity on social media (which is overwhelmingly represented by young women) has elevated a new generation. Through connecting directly with their audience, they are challenging a long-held patriarchal narrative that skinny/white/cis is best. Why ask a third party what the latest trends are, if you can influence them yourself?
Public perception is increasingly shifting to be against big media, and celebrities on social media in particular have had a hand in this moving tide. Many of the big mastheads are now considered nothing more than an rumour mill trying to get clicks. It’s the repetition that has stuck — how many times can you recall a celebrity telling you a story was nothing more than clickbait? And how many times could you say it was actually proven to be true?
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Traditional media’s declining relevance in the eyes of younger generations is rooted in toxic capitalism — people don’t matter, money (or clicks) do. As Gen Z increasingly rejects capitalist ideology, it’s no surprise that they revel in young celebrities breaking the system without participating within its traditional structures.
Taylor Swift re-recorded and re-released an entire album to cut music manager Scooter Braun out of earning royalty profits. Cardi B became the first female rapper to hold three diamond records and five number-ones on the Billboard 100, despite her early beginnings as a stripper and reality star. Sure, Prince Harry may have bucked royal tradition by relinquishing his titles and releasing a scathing book about his family — but overwhelmingly, it’s young women that are breaking the rules, in a magnificent fashion.
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