‘Bad reputations’ seem to be reserved for women
THERE’S a narrow set of rules women are expected to comply with in order to be gifted a “good reputation” badge, writes Alana Schetzer.
IN Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the marriage prospects of protagonist Elizabeth Bennet are based on whether her family’s reputation is strong enough for her to marry into wealth and status.
Some 200 years later, women’s reputations still have intrinsic value in society.
Look at Taylor Swift — her new song is a fightback against the 2016 assignation of her reputation as a snake, a liar, a self-described victim, man-eater and manipulator.
A Melbourne street artist depicted her reputation as dead — RIP Taylor Swift, the mural stated.
It all came from the latest chapter in her feud with rapper Kanye West, after she spoke out against him calling her a “bitch” in one of his songs; he claimed that she okayed the lyric and his wife released video of the two talking on the phone, with Swift apparently agreeing to it.
Cue Swift’s fall from grace, which was met with delight and a chorus of “she had it coming”.
But did she?
Swift’s so-called crime appears to have been an excuse to brand her with a scarlet letter, such is society’s demand that women be either good or bad.
Someone like Swift — who appears to simply have it all and have it too good — is the perfect candidate for the type of woman who deserves to be taken down a peg, for the worst to be believed of her.
Whether it’s true or not seems to be irrelevant.
For all women, reputation still matters, whether it be to get a job, meet a partner and be considered the “right” type of woman who can pass go and collect $200.
There remains a narrow set of rules that women are expected to comply with in order to be gifted this “good reputation” badge. Acting outside of these rules gets you labelled a troublemaker in a way that men simply aren’t.
Gender double standards still exist, and sex continues to be the harshest barometer.
Great work has been made in recent years to flip the narrative on how we judge women who take part in the same activities as men — society is slowing coming to grasp with how we have and continue to slut-shame women, while men get congratulated for “scoring”.
Ruining a woman’s reputation is the motivation of revenge porn, in which nude photos of people are uploaded to the internet without their consent, often by ex-lovers.
It’s designed to humiliate its victims, ruin their relationships with family and friends, and destroy their professional reputations.
It is using 21st technology to enact an 18th century crime — the parallels with Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia Bennet are uncanny.
In deliberately making her own reputation and declaring what the truth of it is, Swift challenges the long-held practices of society determining a woman’s reputation. Swift is taking back control and that very act is considered radical.
And a damned woman who is confident and directly challenges her detractors will likely see her accused of the gendered crime of being ambitious and challenging.
Because it’s easy to turn a swan into a snake, but it’s much harder to do the reverse.
Originally published as ‘Bad reputations’ seem to be reserved for women