Toxic

November 6, 2023
Journalist Ditum debuts with a damning indictment of tabloids’ treatment of female celebrities in the early 21st century. The rise of digital cameras in the early aughts, Ditum argues, provided tabloids with “more shots than ever before,” while the internet opened opportunities for gossip bloggers willing to publish stories even tabloids wouldn’t touch. Examining how these cultural forces affected perennial paparazzi targets Aaliyah, Jennifer Aniston, Chyna, Paris Hilton, Janet Jackson, Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Amy Winehouse, Ditum suggests Spears’s 2007 decision to shave her head was a revolt against the sexualized femininity she “had been groomed to perform” since she was a teen. Elsewhere, Ditum excoriates the media’s sexist coverage of Jackson’s 2004 Super Bowl performance for falsely claiming the musician “deliberately” bared her breast while sparing Justin Timberlake, who exposed Jackson after an apparent misunderstanding about a costume reveal. Ditum’s sympathetic treatment of her subjects contrasts with the enraging accounts of tabloid sexism and overreach, demonstrating how such coverage obscured and trivialized hidden hardships (after Paris Hilton revealed in 2020 that she been sexually abused at a psychiatric treatment center when she was 16, Ditum writes, “the slutty attention seeker of the aughts was suddenly, obviously no such thing: Paris had been a damaged child acting out”). Readers will rethink what they thought they knew about some of the most publicized celebrity stories of the early 2000s.

December 1, 2023
A social critique in nine essays, each profiling a female star of the early 2000s. London-based journalist Ditum begins with Britney Spears, whose debut album "...Baby One More Time" was released in 1998. The pop star's appeal, the author argues, hinged on her combination of sultriness and innocence, as a former Mickey Mouse Club cast member who wore a purity ring. The issue of her virginity dogged Spears, culminating in a bizarre interview with Diane Sawyer in which she was reduced to tears on the subject of the number of people she'd had sex with. As the author writes, "intercourse was treated as a grave and somber matter for which she owed the nation an apology." Ditum differentiates among celebrities such as Spears and Lindsay Lohan, who became famous before the digital revolution; Paris Hilton, who became a star during it; and Kim Kardashian, who rose to prominence after smartphones and internet pornography were commonplace. In the second essay, Ditum looks at Hilton, the heiress who burst on the scene in 1999 as a bubbly socialite with a famous last name. The author paints a portrait of an enterprising, flexible young woman who understood that "her role in public life...[was] to stand for privileged nothingness." As for Kardashian, the author writes, "because she began to seek fame later in the decade, she was able to harness the internet rather than merely be ambushed by it." Ditum is an engaging writer, and she wrings new insight from these well-known biographies. She is equally eloquent arguing that the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 created a need for both "idols and scapegoats" as she discusses the Black community's evolving response to R. Kelly's abuse of its young women. Top-notch pop-culture commentary--a smart and entertaining look at female celebrity during a decade of immense change.

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December 1, 2023
The aughts were fraught with overt misogyny. From revenge porn to salacious tabloid stories, female celebrities were reduced to fodder for a culture that took a sadistic delight in punishing them. Ditum labeled this time the ""upskirt decade,"" referring to a court case that ruled women have no expectation of privacy and can be photographed without consent (even up their skirts) in public. Ditum delivers trenchant commentary through profiles of nine talented women who were assailed by the media. Paris Hilton was not just a rich socialite but a savvy PR person who capitalized on her ""dumb blonde"" image. Aaliyah was not a nymphette but a teenager who was publicly groomed by a man who was supposed to be her mentor. Each of Ditum's profiles undoes the harsh vilification these starlets suffered while also diving into the cultural factors that contributed to their public denigration. Pop-culture fans, particularly millennials, will be drawn to Ditum's engaging writing and thoughtful observations. Pairs well with a viewing of the 2022 Netflix docuseries The Most Hated Man on the Internet.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 15, 2023

Literary reviewer and pop music critic Ditum relies on the writing and interviews of others to showcase the trials and tribulations of nine of the most famous women of the early 2000s in this study of the misogynistic and racist celebrity coverage which created, celebrated, and demonized the women throughout their careers. She focuses on the salacious aspects of the lives of the most provocative headline-grabbers, including the obsession with Britney Spears' virginity, the public disintegrations of Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse, the rise of influencers Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, and the victimization of Aaliyah, Janet Jackson, and pro wrestler Chyna. Some of the events of the book are placed in historical context, but readers might find the contextualization to be a bit convoluted, with frequent references to 9/11, the rise of bloggers such as Perez Hilton, the #MeToo movement, and the ascent of Donald Trump. Ditum's extensively researched book ends by discussing the tabloids' fixation on the fertility of Jennifer Aniston. VERDICT This meticulously researched title devotes all of its attention to the sleazy ways in which women celebrities have been treated throughout contemporary history. It's meticulously researched.--Lisa Henry

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