Since the start of 2024, there have been unnecessary misogynistic actions, mainly in the media, degrading women and their success. Many people do not understand the impact of these measures. Depending on the situation, both men and women choose to bring down other women and their success.

Golden Globes Disaster
Comedian and actor, Jokoy, was recently under fire as he stepped up as the Golden Globes host for the evening. Jokoy is known for his stand up shows, several even filmed and on Netflix for streaming, including a large fanbase on Instagram.

At the 81st Annual Golden Globes, he didn’t spark his audience with his infamous jokes. Rather, he continuously offended many people, especially women, with his opening monologue.

He started his comments by comparing the two biggest movies of the summer in 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer. Jokoy praised the two movies on cinematic box office achievements. Jokoy explained that Oppenheimer is a 721-page “Pulitzer prize winning book about Manhattan Project. And ‘Barbie’ is on a plastic doll with big boobies.” Isn’t that disgusting and humiliating to listen to? Here he is, in front of millions of people watching worldwide, comparing a movie about the development of atomic bombs to the body of a famous doll, when the movie was so much more than that.

Many people online have discussed their discomfort with the jokes made on stage. Some have stated that Jokoy had totally missed the whole point being made in the Barbie movie. “Barbie” shows how men in the real world overlook the power of women in society. This strongly affects Ken and urges him to completely change Barbie Land into a world of men running the system. One famous monologue, made by America Ferrera, has been notorious since the Barbie movie came out. It has helped women stay empowered and left the audience emotional.

Ferrera’s character, Gloria, explains societies’ expectations of women, but also the contradiction of reaching those expectations. Women are expected of so much, yet still feel so restricted and degrading.

Gloria’s Monologue:
“You have to answer for mens’ bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you’re accused of complaining. You’re supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much, or that you threaten other women because you’re supposed to be a part of the sisterhood. But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged…It’s too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal, or says thank you!… I’m just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us.”
Barbie Snub
Barbie has indeed become one of the most groundbreaking movie of the past year, bringing close to $1.3 billion in tickets and among the top 20 highest-grossing films ever. However, a new crash of information has landed shocking people worldwide. Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were not nominated for Best Actress and Best Director.

Many people have revealed their frustration because it perfectly depicts what the Barbie movie has been saying all along. Women are succeeding in a male dominated field, and some people aren’t up for it.

People have expressed on social media that the Academy missed the whole point of the film. Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, was nominated for an award, but not the lead actress that the whole movie is about.

Two major actors in “Barbie” spoke out about this Oscar Snub. Ryan Gosling, playing Ken, gave a statement to Entertainment Tonight expressing his disappointment of Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig not getting the recognition they deserve. Gosling highlights that “there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie.” He reveals that his disappointment for not being nominated would be an understatement.

Simu Liu, playing another Ken, defends the two women about the Oscar snub on ‘X’. Liu exclaims that they deserve everything and that they “started a movement, touched the world, and reinvigorated the cinema.”

The Golden Couple

There is no doubt that everyone has been buzzing about the new relationship of pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chief player Travis Kelce. In September 2023, the pair were first sighted together after Kelce’s football game in Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium. Ever since, fans have been raving about the couple and are always excited to tune into Chiefs games.

At the games, there have been many times where they pan the camera to show Swift watching the game in the upper suite. Because of this, many men have spoken about how they hate seeing Taylor Swift on their screens, and only want to watch the game. Swift fans have retaliated, saying how Swift is only on screen for less than a minute and that men will take time out of their day just to hate on Swift for supporting her boyfriend.

Obviously, not all men express hate towards the two. Many fathers have shown gratitude towards Swift because it brought their families together, as their daughters join them to watch football. A Super Bowl commercial went viral in the Swiftie community; a heartwarming video of a father and daughter having a closer bond as the daughter, a Swift fan, joined him to watch football as a family. Fathers and husbands have responded to that video, explaining how relatable it is for them.

Horrid Use of AI

No doubt, AI has fundamentally changed the world. People use it for school, social media, and even in the medical field. However, even though people use AI for good, it’s guaranteed that people could use it for horrible reasons. One event that spread on former Twitter app, now known as ‘X’, was that people created graphic, deepfake photos of Taylor Swift at Chiefs games.

Thankfully, there has been lots of support for Swift to get these images taken down. Fans have supported Swift by creating posts with “Protect Taylor Swift” to drown out the explicit images.
Her publicist, Tree Paine, took action and got the images deleted.

Still, these photos exist on the internet, and people could spread them around. Even the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, spoke out about this issue. Jean-Pierre mentions that these photos are alarming and that there should be legislation passed to prevent more issues like this.

What makes things worse, is that even though Taylor Swift has the money, status, and the abundant amount of power to take action against it, these deepfake images can happen to anybody. The use of AI can horribly affect other women and imposes a larger threat, especially for young women. It is too big of an issue that is, once again, being overlooked.

Overall, the events spotlighted shows how women in the media have been dealing with misogyny regularly. These occurrences are very disturbing and alarming especially how nothing is being done to stop hurtful actions towards women. Of course, women are not the only people being torn down in the media and men aren’t the only people being rude and disrespectful. But with these circumstances happening so recently, day after day, we can only hope that one day women will be treated with the decency and respect they deserve.