By now you must have heard of what happened with Gigi Hadid this week in Milan. If you haven’t, here’s a quick summary: she was leaving a fashion show with her sister Bella, and a sea of fans were waiting for them outside the show. On their way to their car, Gigi stopped briefly to take a few pictures with the fans and seemed truly calm and happy. When she was about to get into her car, a man who was a supposed fan grabbed her from behind and lifted her. Being the badass woman she is, she elbowed the man and chased after him screaming while he ran away from the scene quickly. Here’s a video of the whole thing.
Well her moment of self-defence instantly yielded headlines like “Gigi Hadid lashes out at fan after show in Milan” and others which conveyed the message of her attacking an innocent fan and consequently portrayed her in a bad light. Hadid, who as I’ve written before, is outspoken and fearless when facing criticism, spoke out openly about her right to defend herself, saying she is a human being and has every right to react as she deems appropriate when she feels threatened, and she’s absolutely correct. Had I been tackled and lifted from behind by a stranger I would have fought and punched and struggled until he released me and left.
But the media has this obsession with grabbing any opportunity and then twisting it to portray women as problematic, irrational, and emotional. It looks to perpetuate the ancient stereotype of women being driven by their feelings and not being qualified or capable enough to be successful and still keep their mind in place. Newsflash: we can, and we’ve been doing so for quite a while now. This media persecution is especially true with women like Hadid, who, since rising into the spotlight has been battling criticism openly and fighting back - she does not let the media twist around what happens in her life and so renders them powerless.
Hadid has received a wave of support from fellow celebrities like Anna Kendrick, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ansel Elgort, and tons of others. Her fans have also come out in her defence. It seems like everyone understands that her reaction was natural, if not necessary and expected given her situation, except for the media. But what is even more impressive in this whole story is that we often look at the media like it is a machine, but seldom remember that it is controlled and its content is created by people. Humans, just like you, me, and Hadid herself. And yet when faced with the choice of being sympathetic and caring or being controversial just for the sake of getting more page hits, the latter wins the majority of the time. It is time that this changes, if not for everyone, just so the next woman who deliberately acts in self-defence can go on with her life without worrying about being accused of being irrational and unbalanced.
