Katie Price and the value of celebrity
I've written before about the allegations Katie Price has made about being raped. They were widely reported, especially by Richard Desmond publications, as the interview in which they were contained appeared in Desmond's OK! magazine. The other papers covered it, but not to the same degree.
Now, though, there's been another spike in interest in the story - it's much bigger news than it was before. Why's that? Well now it turns out that Price has said an unnamed celebrity was behind the attack on her. All of a sudden, it becomes a bigger story, appearing on the front page of every tabloid every day this week so far. Today's papers are a good example:
Celebrity raped? Meh. Celebrity raped by celebrity? Wow! I don't know if I'm alone in feeling a little queasy about this state of affairs. I also think the use by the Sun of the phrase 'celebrity rape' is fairly grim as well - this from a paper which used the chortling headline "By gum" the other day to describe alleged sex attacks by a dentist. And is "I didn't rape Jordan" really a story? Whatever you think of Katie Price and her desire to be in the papers, this whole business does not reflect well on tabloid papers in this country.
The Express, meanwhile, has gone back to familiar territory in what is clearly a new policy to return to the old favourites:
The same old tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories; the same old nonsense. I even discovered today that the Mail have recently been delving into this drivel thanks to Lauren Booth's article implying Our Queen of Hearts may have been slaughtered because she was about to single-handedly destroy the arms industry. The sort of guff you'd laugh off if it appeared in a student magazine, but not something worthy of turning up in a national paper.
It seems little changes.
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September 18th, 2009 - 19:45
I think I might be in the newspapers tomorrow because I also did not rape Jordan.
September 18th, 2009 - 19:50
Does anyone genuinely believe she's been raped? Strange how this story has never come out before in her numerous books until her marriage breaks down and she goes off with some other feather-brained nincompoop which makes her look bad, isn't it?
September 20th, 2009 - 13:59
Septicisle, is it any wonder she didn't say anything, since she obviously wouldn't be believed anyway? In fact most rape victims don't report it, since they know the perpetrator won't be punished anyway or don't want to relive it. I think its very dangerous society that automatically assumes women are lying about rape, when in fact the false reporting of rape is no higher then any other crime.
Also how does forming a new relationship make her like bad? What's wrong with women expressing their own sexuality and doing what they want?
September 21st, 2009 - 09:49
Horrible stuff.
September 21st, 2009 - 16:23
I share Kirsty's concerns about Septicisle's comment.
September 21st, 2009 - 18:40
Kirsty, you seem to be mistaking Katie Price for an actual normal woman; someone who lives their life through the celeb rags, has documentary crews permanently following her around and has a new autobiography out every year is hardly likely to have kept quiet about being raped (especially by a celebrity) until suddenly she's (finally) getting a bad press. There's also nothing wrong with forming a new relationship; it's just when you wander around in front of the cameras with only a thong on, arm in arm with the bloke and then also roll around on the grass while the kids from the failed marriage look on some people might just consider that there are more savoury ways of going about your new romance.
September 22nd, 2009 - 14:26
Unless you believe there is not really any trauma for a rape victim it must take a lot a courage to talk about it. Maybe she just couldn't admit it before.
There's always some rationalisation for dismissing women, e.g they drink a lot, they like to flirt a lot anyway. Being a liar as you're a celebrity is new one on me, and it didn't didn't lead people to call Helen Mirren a liar when she claimed she was raped. I guess she hasn't failed some social expectations on how women ought to be behaving like Katie Price has.
September 22nd, 2009 - 14:46
I understand that Septicisle but that doesn't make her fair game and doesn't make her statement that she has been raped something that is up for ridicule and attack, esp. in the environment we still have to live in regarding attitudes towards rape.