As women on the internet, we know what it’s like to be under constant threat: physical threat, verbal threat, reputational threat. We’ve opened ourselves to a new world of public scrutiny and accept that as a consequence of the digital activist role we’ve undertaken and also just daring to be a woman online. It’s through that lens that I’ve been thinking about how fast the internet can turn on someone, especially women who are vibing at the top. Let’s dive in.
When the clips about Chappell Roan being mean to a fan started circulating, the negative public reflex didn’t surprise me. People were ready to believe the worst before they even knew the details. That tells us something deeper that’s about more than this one awkward encounter in a hotel lobby. It’s about how our culture treats women once they become powerful enough to make us uncomfortable.
The Script Is the Same
Society LOVES a woman on the rise. We cheer for her talent, originality, and glow of discovery. She’s talented, iconic, hardworking, inspiring. But once she becomes too famous, too influential, or too intentional about her image, the backlash is close behind. Gradually, she becomes: Difficult, rude, entitled, arrogant, (or Kamala Harris’s favorite) not humble enough.
The conversation stops being about their work and starts being about their personality and every story becomes another piece of evidence that confirms the new narrative. That’s where Chappell Roan suddenly found herself. The rumor spread that she made a child cry as she was eating at a hotel, even though 1) she later said she wasn’t aware of the incident and 2) the security guard at the center of this publicly stated that he was not working for her and his actions were not on her behalf. Yet by the time she spoke up only a day later, the script had written itself. In part, thanks to a coordinated digital attack where over 23% of the posting and comments on this controversy were generated by bots, in a recent report.
It’s unclear who funded the attack, but it is clear why: Chappell Roan is a powerful woman at the top of her game right now. She’s also openly lesbian. She is also pro-Palestine. She also left her talent agency earlier this year because the founder was connected with Epstein. Shall we continue?
We Did This to Britney First
In the early 2000s, Britney Spears was one of the most powerful celebrities on the planet. She shaped pop music, fashion, and the entire celebrity economy. Then, almost overnight, the story changed.
Continue reading over at the Women in America Substack.
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