The Misogyny Continues

Many celebrities have gotten pregnant over the years here are a few.

By Aliyah Brown, Staff Reporter

I can’t seem to go a day without seeing a brutally misogynistic post that has widespread support. The internet is not an equal playing field. With so many unsolicited opinions and people displaying only what they want, it is difficult to grasp an understanding of a person’s whole life. In recent media coverage, numerous celebrities have been congratulated on the birth of a child, while others have been ridiculed and mocked. 

One example is Naomi Osaka, a 25-year-old tennis prodigy who is estimated to be worth $51.1 million, according to Forbes. Last December, she received widespread criticism online for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Nevertheless, Osaka has shown that she and her boyfriend, Cordae, are content.

 In an Instagram post, Osaka wrote  “I don’t think there’s a perfectly correct path to take in life, but I always felt that if you move forward with good intentions, you’ll find your way eventually.” While she’s giving birth to a bundle of joy, several individuals offer their mystical observations. Some people online are calling her weak,  and others said she was hooked to people’s pity and attention. This is a perfect opportunity for them to express even more disapproval. Sometimes To satisfy our ego and feel good about ourselves, envy forces us to focus solely on the negatives of others. Instead of praising her, some are calling for her to step down from tennis. 

Misogyny goes way back. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, second-wave feminists used the term misogyny in the 1970s to describe disrespectful behavior toward women. Misogyny and sexism are similar, but not the same. On one hand, sexism is the prejudice or stereotyping of on the basis of sex, mainly against women. On the other, misogyny is a more ingrained, violent hatred for women and their behaviors. Today, the two terms are almost interchangeable, going hand in hand, and often leads to a variety of issues that women continue to face, including gender bias, pay disparities between men and women and a lack of equal policy-level representation for women and girls.

 Yet persists in today’s culture regardless of one’s socioeconomic status. When it comes to their finances and their possessions, many successful people don’t feel the need to rush into marriage.

An article called “The origins of marriage” by The Week explained that the vast majority of people, however, are unaware that the original intent of marriage was to unite males and females to ensure that a man’s offspring would be his true biological heirs. Using the Church as a Means. About 450–500 million people worldwide consider themselves to be either atheists or agnostics. 

Keke palmer, a 29-year-old celebrity, made the joyful pregnancy announcement on a  Saturday Night Live episode she hosted. Palmer did not lose any time during her introduction to announce that she is expecting her first child with her boyfriend Darius Jackson. According to CA knowledgeable January 2023 Palmer has a net worth of $10 million. With her salary alone, she can sustain many people if necessary, she won’t have to worry about necessities such as food, clothing, or child care since she has the ability to do so. Palmer’s announcement brought in a lot of negative comments, and some individuals started to make sexist comments.  Take for instance,  television host Nick Cannon. It’s not often that people mention how many children he had outside of his first marriage, which totaled ten.  He may be mocked for having six baby mothers, but we never hear that he should have gotten married before having kids. Another example is Future, a singer who had eight children with eight different women. 

Palmer was criticized for “doing things wrong” by having her child before her marriage, while another commenter sarcastically said, “Yay more single mother celebrating.” A second tweet said “Keke Palmer having a child out of wedlock is the direct result of feminism. A black child was more likely to be born into a married family than a white child before feminism infiltrated the black community”. 

It’s not surprising that Palmer would be singled out for criticism, and neither is the double standard that has been applied to the critiques she’s received. Misogyny runs deep and is ingrained in the fabric of our society; it is everywhere. It is not in anyone’s nature to disrespect women; rather, this is a taught behavior. We’re so used to hearing so many people do things wrong that it no longer surprises us. Many women assert that “girl support girl,” yet the atmosphere in the comments section is not very supportive. After all,  males are never often criticized in public for having children outside of marriage.

We are in the year 2023. Is it really all that troubling to think about the possibility of a person having a child outside of wedlock?