In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

I know, I know, I should lower my expectations because it’s the Daily Mail

zuzu

But I couldn’t let this go without a comment after I saw it in the sidebar to the Jen Hunter piece. Apparently, the fine folks at the Daily Mail are just shocked, shocked! that George Clooney’s new girlfriend has a “racy” past.

The evidence of this raciness? She was a “scantily-clad” cocktail waitress at the club in Vegas where she met Clooney (apparently, her uniform consisted of a bikini), and while in Amsterdam on a trip where she was working as a promotional model, she goofed around with female friends and took some photos playing around with them.

Gosh, I didn’t realize that dating George Clooney required the kind of vetting they gave to Diana Spencer before she was deemed suitable to bear the next heir to the throne. For fuck’s sake, she’s just dating a guy! A guy, it goes without saying, who seems to like women who like to have a good time. So why the hell not date a former Vegas cocktail waitress and promotional model who enjoys going out? Especially if she’s a good sport about getting into a motorcycle wreck with you and then hobbling to a movie premiere on crutches.

And I’d really like to know what’s in those pictures that’s so unusual, or “racy,” or out of the realm of what normal 28-year-olds do. Seems to me it’s just an excuse to run pictures of a little hot girl-on-girl action and chicks in bikinis while simultaneously getting the vapors about the decline of the moral fiber of Western Civilization.

Side note: Is it me, or does it seem like there’s a certain clamoring in the media for George Clooney to get married? Is it that he says he’s just not interested that drives them nuts?

14 thoughts on I know, I know, I should lower my expectations because it’s the Daily Mail

  1. And I’d really like to know what’s in those pictures that’s so unusual, or “racy,” or out of the realm of what normal 28-year-olds do.

    Well, most 28-year-olds have better taste than to date guys almost twice their age, but whatever, she’ll live. It’s not like whatever “racy” fun she’s had will come close to equalling his. But I guess the idea is that she shouldn’t have had any adventures, much less as many as he has.

  2. Well, most 28-year-olds have better taste than to date guys almost twice their age…

    Yeah, but most guys almost twice their age aren’t George Clooney.

  3. Is it me, or does it seem like there’s a certain clamoring in the media for George Clooney to get married

    It’s not you. They’re losing their minds over it. “Clamoring” describes it nicely.

  4. Well, most 28-year-olds have better taste than to date guys almost twice their age…

    Yeah, but most guys almost twice their age aren’t George Clooney.

    Srsly. I generally have major issues with extreme age differences in relationships (though, of course, exceptions exist, don’t yell at me about your personal life), but Clooney? Is Clooney. He’s the new Connery, and he’s even better than Connery, because Connery likes to hit his wives and Clooney is a raging liberal. LOVE.

  5. Not just a “racy” past, but one she’s HAUNTED by. The poor woman. I bet she lies awake at night sobbing, flashing back on how she shamefully let herself be photographed in a “garish” bikini, thinking about those dark days when she cuddled up to a female friend in Vegas and smiled for the camera, and wishes she could take it all back. Because now she’s paying for those sun-drenched days of sin and decadence by… uh, dating George Clooney. I guess “sluts get their comeuppance” is so ingrained in Daily Mail thinking that they write that story even when there is no comeuppance visible, aside from being the target of some meanspirited journalism.

  6. A guy, it goes without saying, who seems to like women who like to have a good time. So why the hell not date a former Vegas cocktail waitress and promotional model who enjoys going out?

    Because he’s dating outside his caste by spending time with a mere cocktail waitress when he should be pairing up with famous actresses that would give the gossip rags months (if not years) of material. Therefore, it must be pointed out at every turn that she is Not Worthy of Him in the hopes that he will return to his rightful social circle.

    Their dream pairing? Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney. They could drag that thing out for years.

  7. Speaking of Jennifer Aniston, has anyone else notice that the tabloids have created this whole narrative of “Oh, poor Jen, she just can’t find True Love and she’s sobbing in her pillow every night” while she’s dating party boys (Vince Vaughn) and male models? Hello, if you’re dating Vince Vaughn, you ain’t looking for anything permanent. But that’s the only narrative they can imagine rather than the one I’m picturing, which is that she’s playing the field without looking for anything permanent. You know, like George Clooney is.

    Of course, we can’t have that — she’s a woman! She must be looking for True and Permanent Love with male models who are 10 years younger than she is! Otherwise, she’d be a Slut who’s only out for sex, and Our Jen can’t be one of them! We saw her on the teevee for years and years!

  8. most 28-year-olds have better taste than to date guys almost twice their age

    Even a doughy guy like Ted Kennedy got to date a woman nearly half his age — Victoria Reggie Kennedy, who, when they married, was 33 to Ted’s 60.

  9. No wedding = no ring = no over-paid pictures = no kids (mmh) = no “how they’re in love” pics = no home stories = no rumors about the new waitress = no gossip for weeks = no big interview “all lies” = no big break up with exclusive pictures of him frolicking with that artist = no dirty stories from their lawyers.

    Just dating and breaking up will never be as interesting as weddings and divorces.

    Personally I would prefer Vince Vaughn over George Clooney 😉

  10. Whoops – Victoria Reggie was born in 54, not 59, making her 38 when Ted was 60. 59 was when Ted got his law degree.

  11. This just makes me want to get a job at the Palms. And Mnemosyne, I think you’re right about the tabloids disgust with his ‘lower caste’ girlfriend. Might also be that whole double standard about what’s acceptable for a single versus a ‘coupled’ woman… for the record, I’m just as tawdry and racy now as I was whilst unpartnered…

  12. Side note: Is it me, or does it seem like there’s a certain clamoring in the media for George Clooney to get married? Is it that he says he’s just not interested that drives them nuts?

    I think you’re on to something here. A lot of married guys like to lord it over single/divorced ones about how much better they have it. Sometimes it seems like they’re protesting a bit too much. Then comes Clooney, who can bag a hot babe almost half his age without marriage, and that really burns their bagels.

    As for the “unequal” relationship, I don’t think the age thing is as significant as their inequality in status: He’s a huge star and she’s not even in showbiz. Even so, I think men get away with that a lot easier than when the situation is reversed, and we get a lot of sneering about “boy toys.”

  14. Thanks for the excuse to google Mr. Clooney. Apparently, his last known girlfriend was Ellen Barkin, who is six years his senior. Can’t imagine she was much of a pushover.

    I think the media narrative here is that George should make an “honest woman” of her.

    Gotta say that I like a guy who brings the cocktail waitress he’s dating to public functions, rather than having a “higher caste” woman as his “Number One Girlfriend,” while the good-time girl never sees the outside of his apartment. (Although I suppose Clooney has a house.)

Comments are currently closed.