Everybody has seen some scandalous picture in a paper, on television or most probably in a gossip magazine showing Kristen Stewart's unfaithfulness to Robert Pattinson. While all twi-hards out there gladly rejoice for the few weeks that the famous pair were apart (Hallelujah!), the rest of us can see just how much attention and press that one moral mistake from one actress can gain.
Kristen allegedly had a fling with Rupert Sanders whist in the process of filming Snow White and the Huntsman, and of course a lovely paparazzo was crouching stealthily in the bushes, ready to bring this woman's world down around her, naturally. As news and photo's spread like wildfire across the media platforms, her innocent yet maybe slightly moody persona disappeared (well, maybe not all of it), and she became the icon for how not to live your life as a celebrity in a power couple relationship. But why did it gain so much attention?
She's only 22 years of age, barely allowed to drink in America, but old enough to be earning bucket loads of money. Because of her age, people now regard her as the 'naive little girl who can't be trusted', and it reportedly lost her lucrative contracts in blockbuster films, due to the scandal she caused. Also, the saying goes 'once a cheat, always a cheat', and this will stick with her throughout her acting career because of the uproar it caused, and how the aftermath was greatly recorded and followed.
Rupert Sanders was, and apparently still is, a happily married man with children. A respectable film director. The fact that Stewart not only was unfaithful to a highly sought after male celebrity, she was unfaithful with a married man, and there was a lot of press on the impact of the situation on his marriage with Liberty Ross.
There were pictures strewn around magazines and websites, showing her with her wedding ring on and off, speculation rife about what state their marriage was in. However, there was notably more coverage of Kristen Stewart, rather than Rupert Sanders, and when it did focus on him, they discussed his wife instead.
It seems that in these high profile situations, the women are focused on much more, and being condemned much more rather than the alpha male who'd probably incite the situation in many cases.
Women are scrutinized intensely in the media, because if they mess up, it challenges stereotypical gender roles in society. When Charlie Sheen had his breakdown and gave those surreal interviews including mentions of "tiger blood", he was almost seen as heroic and a figure to look up to because he was funny. Yet when Britney Spears had her breakdown and shaved her head, people felt sorry for her and deemed her probably very insecure in her life and unstable to be around.
Female actors, singers, dancers are all idolized by the public because they tend to be beautiful and successful, having the pick of the crop. Yet as soon as they mess up and do something wrong, their careers take a dive and people no longer respect them for what they do. Look at Lindsay Lohan, always in trouble in the courts and causing some controversy, which has caused her career to be virtually non existent in recent years, thriving off the attention she gets from her wrongdoings. It's a gentle reminder to people like Kristen Stewart that if you veer off onto another path, you won't be allowed to forget it for a long, long time.