Whatever happened to women empowering women?
This past Thursday, Bravo super-fan Jennifer Lawrence appeared on Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen, where the two talked about Vanderpump Rules star Lala Kent. Jennifer said, and I quote,
“I’m like, ‘Bitch, you’s a c*nt!”
Um, excuse me? Did you really just call another woman that??
I don’t care how much you dislike someone, there is never a reason to call a woman that. It’s especially important for other women because honestly we get enough of that degrading language from men. For someone who calls herself a feminist, this isn’t very feminist-y of her.
Feminism isn’t about agreeing with every decision another woman makes, it isn’t even about staying silent when another woman does something reprehensible (ahem, Jennifer), but it IS about not calling each other names and disrespecting them on live TV.
If you do feel like you need to condemn another woman, there’s a way to do it in a respectful manner and it definitely doesn’t include calling them that word.
As for Lala, she was understandably upset. She tweeted and deleted three times before deciding that she didn’t want to sink to Jennifer’s level. On “Reality Check” on Sirius XM, she said,
“The thing is, no one wants to be called the C-word, especially by an A-list celebrity on national television. I was such a huge fan of hers, and it bummed me out. I thought that she had a little more class than that.”
She added jokingly,
“You know, let’s leave the trash to people like me who do reality TV. Don’t try to steal my thunder, girlfriend!”
I’m so glad Lala came to her senses and decided not to tweet something out of anger. This whole season on Vanderpump Rules she has been such a source of female empowerment and I would hate to see her lose her way.
Lala has come such a long way from the girl who once told Katie Maloney that she clearly “hadn’t been working on her summer body.” She’s transformed herself from a defensive bulldog to a likable force of self-love. I hope to see more of this from her later this season.
As for Jennifer, I hope she thinks hard about how she speaks about other women. She’s a high-profile celebrity and a role model for so many and I personally expect a lot more from her.
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