Double Standards for Hollywood

The press has recently been filled with alarming stories about the disappearance of Megan Stammers, 15, who recently eloped with her 30 year old math teacher, Jeremy Forrest. Although this is a worrying story, I feel like the main issue here is not about the way in which the relationships should be viewed by the media, but instead that it is unfair for the press to glamorise subjects such as taboo relationships, then to completely reprimand ordinary people in similar situations. Of course, the same could be said about shows such as 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. Both of which never claim to encourage the behaviour or choices of their cast, yet still glamorise the circumstances in which they are in.

In a recent story about the school girl’s departure, the Daily Mail went as far as to claim that Stammers was being ‘groomed’ by the teacher, implying that the 15 year old was being manipulated by Forrest. This clearly shows their views on the relationship and suggests that Forrest was in the wrong by even beginning the romance with the young girl.

Nevertheless, I find that the Daily Mail in particular frequently reports on the slightly worrying life of teen bride, Courtney Stodden, along with her husband Doug Hutchison, who is 35 years her senior. Although they never fully claim to support the marriage, the large amount of coverage given to the 18 year old is surely not discouraging and often focuses on the positive aspects of her situation. Stodden is constantly getting hate mail from the public based on her skimpy outfits and the accusations of her being a gold digger, yet the Daily Mail chooses to report on the glamorous life that the teenager leads and the couple’s claim that their relationship is based solely on love, which they believe should eliminate any issues that the public should have about the shockingly large age gap.

It could even be argued that shows and stories like these are actually encouraging young girls to act in a way that mirrors these ‘celebrities’; after all, what kind of a message does it send to teenagers when they see girls the same age as them gaining celebrity status and desirable lifestyles simply by marrying somebody over double their age or by having a child at such a young age? Surely these are things that should be discouraged among teenaged girls, when instead the media seems to be romanticising them.

In an attempt to find out just how much these stories are affecting young girls, I spoke to 19 year old Stephanie Howland, who confesses to being in a relationship with her 23 year old teacher when she was only 17. She admits that although it seemed like a good idea at the time, she now thinks differently, claiming that ‘if the teacher really wanted to be with you they would wait until it was legal. Most of the time they’re just sleazy and want to use you’. This shows that the media can actually affect the lives of young girls, as she admits that similar relationships are made out to be glamorous in the media, yet are really not a good idea in reality.