Selena Gomez put on a stunning performance of her new collaboration with Marshmello, ˜Wolves' at the American Music Awards on November 20. She took to the stage in a white mini night gown combined with white Puma pumps and above ankle socks. As well as debuting her new blonde haircut. Despite this is Selena Gomez's first live concert since her kidney transplant during the summer, due to health complications with Lupus. The only aspect of her great performance the media deemed newsworthy and has been heavily covered is her apparent 'flashing' of her knickers.
She owned that gown
In his article for the Daily Mail, Justin Enriquez opens with 'She famously had a kidney transplant just months ago' As if she is the first person to have major surgery, and as if this defines her, it doesn't. Her strength, her determination is what defines her, not her Lupus and not her transplant. The only thing I agree with Justin over his article is where he states that she 'rocked a sexy white nightgown' the sexiness of the gown is irrelevant, but she did rock, not only that, she owned that gown. Aside from detailing the performance which was just a brief description of her 'rolling around on the ground and car', the main focus of the article was to point out while she performed her chemise rode up and her knickers were visible at certain points.
This was the only reason this article and countless others, such as Hollywood Life, OK! Magazine, even India's Edition of the International Business Times decided that they too should hop on knickergate and post five pictures of her performing. Yet not one of those pictures is the now infamous knicker shot. Alyssa Norwin for Hollywood Life calls Selena Gomez 'Brave' in her dedicated article, stating that the singer 'changed the position of her legs and totally flashed the crowd' and that she 'recovered quickly' as if the singer purposely showed the audience and viewers at home her white knickers and it was her intention to make a conspicuous display of them.
She did quickly recover, she recovered from an innocent wardrobe malfunction.
She put a lot of hard work into her performance
As this was her first performance in a year, you could see on her face that she was fighting her nerves, it's rumoured that she had a panic attack either right before or during her performance. However, aside from knickergate, she has been accused of lip-syncing her performance, though many reporters do credit her for her emotional performance, her debut comeback complete with a brand new hairstyle has been overtaken by lip-syncing claims and her accidental wardrobe malfunction - and that is not Ok.
What should have been taken away from her performance was her humble thank you at the end, where you can see that she looks so worn down and she has had a tough year and she feels this performance is the best she can give at this present time. She put a lot of hard work into it. She should have been commended for not letting her wardrobe malfunction trip her up, she should have been commended for her professionalism for carrying on while having a panic attack. Her bravery is that she picks herself up and continues to deliver performances for her loyal fans even though she feels the world crushing her. She remains humble while everyone is focusing on her knickers and whether she lip-synced despite her stellar performance.
It's hard to hide a baby bump
Selena Gomez is one of many women to face claims of 'flashing' and 'showing off' when it comes to women in the news. Another example is the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, though my next statement does not define her and for the sake of my argument, she is currently pregnant with the third in line to the English throne and due in April, if you type the words 'Kate Middleton displays' into the Google Search bar and click news, several news articles crop up. For example, Mark Chandler for the Daily Express on November 8, 2017, heads his article about the Duchess with 'Pregnant Kate stuns in floor-length black lace as she displays hint of baby bump' in fairness to his article he does focus on the event she attended.
Yet he starts his article with 'pregnant Kate' again as if her pregnancy defines her. Why could he not have started with 'Her Royal Highness,The Duchess of Cambridge attended a Royal Gala Dinner last night in a floor-length, black Diane Von Furstenberg dress, the Duchess who is currently pregnant with the Royal couple's third child attended the dinner...' It raises the question as to why such reporters need to define women by their current maternal states, particularly pregnant celebrities. Especially when Chandler in the third paragraph of his article states that she gave us a 'glimpse' of her baby bump. She did not give us a glimpse, she had no option, it is hard to hide a baby bump after the beginning of the second trimester.
The other articles that claim Kate Middleton is 'displaying her bump' are, Christina Gibson's article for US Weekly on the October 16, talking about the 'blush Orly Kiely Raised Flower Fitted Dress in Tea Rose', there is also the Just Jared webzine article on October 10, with the keyword being 'shows tiny baby bump'. Lastly, on the same date, the Inquisitor saying that she 'shows off baby bump for the first time'.
She's pregnant get over it
It is rather perplexing as to why news reporters feel the need to state that a natural body change in a pregnant women is being classesd as being 'displayed' or 'shown off' when the woman in the article is dressed nicely or going for a swim as exampled by Christine Rendon for the toilet paper rag that is the Daily Mail on July 14, 2016, about actress Blake Lively, her headlined blazed 'PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Pregnant Blake Lively shows off growing baby bump in a bikini while straddling husband Ryan Reynolds as they holiday at Taylor Swift's beach house'.
No Christin, no, she did not show it off, she wore a comfy bikini, and she did not have 'I AM PREGNANT' painted in neon across her stomach. Zoe Shenton for The Mirror eight days later titled her article with ˜Pregnant Blake Lively shows off growing bump in pretty pink dress as she talks family life' when Blake Lively wore a fitting salmon pink dress. It really has to be addressed that pregnant women cannot purposely show off their changing bodies unless they walk around with an arrow pointing to their naturally growing bump.
What about male celebs then?
We never see articles regarding male celebrities stepping out looking on point rocking whatever they have grabbed from their wardrobes, we don't see 'Ryan Reynolds displays his cutting figure in Levi jeans and black leather jacket' or 'Adam Levine (of Maroon 5) gives us a peek of his boxers while performing', Yet if you do Google 'Adam Levine wardrobe malfunction' you do get articles from 2015 about his wife Behati Prinsloo 'baring a private part' on the Red Carpet, when her dressed moved a bit far too the right and she ended up suffering the side boob and nipple slip.
The only incident I came across regarding men and wardrobe malfunctions is Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Superbowl, though he is caught up in this incident, he wasn't the one who suffered the malfunction, it was Janet Jackson, whom he was performing alongside, yet he was caught up in Nipplegate.
Men are immune to the scrutiny
It seems men are immune to the scrutiny of what they are wearing and when they suffer wardrobe malfunctions as women are depicted as 'flashing', 'showing off', 'displaying' and ˜baring a private part' when it comes to such things by the media, they are the ones who also come under scrutiny for weight gain and weight loss and pitted against each other for best dressed. Yet an article about a male celebrity putting on weight is a rarity.
When discussing women and fashion shouldn't the focus be on WHAT they are wearing and not how they wear it? A good example of this is H. Tooley's article on Erica Jayne, of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and her ensemble at the AMAs which focuses on the reality star's outfit and not her weight or outward appearance.
