Unlike the media narratives about previous female celebrities, stories about today's stars center less on their dating travails than on their partying ways. Almost all of these women seem less interested in Mr. Right than Mr. Right Now. "They certainly aren't sitting at home, crying into their beer, saying, 'If I only had the right man,'" points out Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out. "They seem to take for granted what women before them have worked for, which is to lead lives independent of men."

There is, however, a price to pay for their transgressions. "I find of particular interest the amount of hatred people have, especially male commentators, for Paris Hilton," says Karen Hollinger, author of The Actress: Hollywood Acting and the Female Star. "She isn't portrayed as looking for love--and finding or not finding it--but as beautiful and rather wild. On the other hand, Diana fit so well into the model of the beautiful woman searching and suffering for love that men were falling all over themselves to celebrate this 'candle in the wind.'"

Paris is no more of a "media whore" than were Diana or Marilyn, but unlike them, her narcissism is brazen and unapologetic rather than eager to please, and therefore despicable. What hasn't changed is the age-old double standard that shapes tabloid press coverage of female stars. "There doesn't seem to be the same obsession with catching male celebrities in these disreputable acts--which would be perfectly easy to do--as there is with these young women," says Charles Ponce de Leon, author of Self-Exposure: Human-Interest Journalism and the Emergence of Celebrity in America, 1890-1940. "The spotlight is harsh and unforgiving on these women because they seem to be wantonly violating conventional norms."

The public's appetite for feminine suffering once fed by tales of heartbreak is now sated by a stint in rehab or behind bars. What was once a self-satisfied desire to protect is now an urgent need to punish. As Wilson observes, "We are engaging in our new favorite dysfunctional love-hate relationship: Public stoning of the celebrity hooker."

Take, for example, Britney Spears. People were on her side after she kicked her deadbeat husband to the curb, but she felt the wrath of her fans at her nightclub shenanigans, which were deemed inappropriate for a new mother. We may be OK with our stars being single, but they're still not free of their womanly duty to "behave."

The news isn't all bad, however. We may not care much for the "skank posse," but the demise of the love-obsessed tragic Cinderella is good reason to celebrate. Today's dominant feminine imperative is not to suffer but to prevail over emotional adversity. Female stars emerge from their divorces looking radiant and liberated, à la Nicole Kidman, whose career soared after being publicly dumped by her husband. Even Diana's story is being revised to suit a twenty-first-century sensibility. The book jacket of Andrew Morton's revised iteration of Diana's life in 2004 touts her "courageous evolution from life as a downtrodden wife and reluctant royal fashion plate to a self-confident and independent modern woman."

A primary reason for our newfound tolerance is also a significant shift in demographics. Dedicating your life to the so-called "desperate search for love" increasingly seems absurd in a culture where relationships often don't last forever and in which--as DePaulo points out--Americans, on average, will spend more years of their adult lives single than married, partly because they're marrying later and living longer as widows. No wonder a recent Pew survey found that 79 percent of Americans believe a woman can lead a complete and happy life if she remains single. (The figure for men was actually lower, at 67 percent.)

Our vision of a happy life for a single female star, however, still requires a continual stream of love affairs, temporary though they may be, and the various Hollywood accoutrements--low body fat, plastic surgery, fabulous wardrobe--that establish her "hotness." In other words, the women we admire are like Diana, sans the self-pity and desperation. It is progress--of a sort.

• « Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 75 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.