Well, I love you Angelina. And you are rocking that dress

Need an example? Take a look at today's Renee Zellweger SJ. Yikes.

Well Heather Mills is a horrible fucking human being.

I dont know how to feel about this because I didnt recognize many of the celebrities picked since this is from the UK. I think if they did such a poll in the US, the list would be more balanced.

What I truly don't get is why things have gotten worse during the past ten years, rather than better. Anyone prepared to own up to it?

Hmm, ya think?
Call you BFFs ladies. spread the <3

We are all guilty of it, though some are worse than others.

So it is still news that women are mean to other?

@ineffable.me:
Really? Because the first celebs that spring to my mind on the "love to hate" tabloids spread are all women: Paris, Nicole, Britney, Lohan, etc.

I think it is interesting there are two couple on the list, male loved and woman hated.

Brad is looking like a broke down old man. Geez.

@nyobserver: The culture on the internet. Easy access to photos, message boards, celebrity blogs, etc. You couldn't discuss your hatred of someone or tear someone apart with 5,000 other people while reading Star magazine at home, but you can do it on TMZ or some such, know what I'm sayin?

P.S. hating on Heather Mills is based on how she had BEHAVED in the past year(s)...not on how she looks.

@TurangaLeela: Apparently so.

@BowlingForDollars: Well, he is kinda old (by Hollywood standards) and broken down (more accurately broken in) by Angelina.

@hortense: Exactly. Plus, on the internet, you can be more open in spreading meanness because of the anonymity that is offered. People on the street may look at you wierd if you say "OMG, Angelina is soooo fat. What a bitch," but if you post it on a message board, you'll probably get fifty responses agreeing with you.

It's always annoyed me, to use the pictured couple as an example, that so many women hate on Angelina for being a "man-thieving harpy" (in the words of my former boss), but Brad is still one of America's heartthrob heroes. He gets credited as a wonderful dad, she gets credited as an uberbitch who collects kids for sport.

Anyway, I still like them both.

I'm not sure if its getting worse or just more public/easier with facebook and the like? It takes a conscious effort to say "I'm not going to bag on other women's appearance" - its really fessing up to one's own insecurities and moving beyond.

@hortense: So I take it you're not a believer of that current statistic that women's progress has actually slowed/receded over the past several years? Wonder if we can blame the internets for that one! ;)

@nyobserver: the ability to snark anonymously -- not just on the Web, but on talk radio and TV -- has racheted up the rudeness level. You can say nasty things and nobody stops you (except here, where we want some level of civility.) I personally blame Rush Limbaugh, and I think Bill O'Reilly compounded it.

For the non Brits out there...

Kerry Katona is and ex girlband member who married Bryan McFadden of Westlife, had 2 kids, went into the jungle on reality show "I'm a Celebrity, get me out of here", won it, became the face of a frozen food chain, separated in a bitter split, divorced in an even more bitter custody case, went to rehab and then married a supposed drug dealer and has 2 more kids by him...and she details all this in a gossip weekly

She is primarily famed though for taking more cocaine than Amy Winehouse...including while pregnant and nursing her children.

Flame me, but I am not going to defend her just because she's a woman with behaviour like that.

The one time I read that awful TheSkinny website (I think it was linked in the Friday punishment-giving-to-asshole-bloggers) I almost threw up.
The editor posts pictures of perfectly normal, even thin women, like Brooke Hogan with these passive aggressive captions. "Hmmm... Brooke seems to have put on some weight, but cute bag! What do you think?!" And the comments are all "Wow what a fatty... Oh my god she looks like a man.... She needs to go to the gym more... I think I see cellulite..."

@hortense: Ok I've felt shame twice now over that. I guess I'm confused at the mixed-messages with the Snap Judgments. In general, in my daily life, I attempt to avoid verbally judging other women with my friends or if my friend says something harsh that seems motivated by jealousy, I'll call her out and address it. But I'm just confused at why some things are considered ok to mock but not others when we're trying to make jokes. A woman's relationships, bad clothes choices, personal issues? We seem to rip them apart. Look at the Jessica Simpson post about her failed relationship. Aren't those just as bad? Isn't assuming Jessica has 'daddy issues' just as bad as saying Renee has squinty eyes?

Could it be the flip side, which is not that the public hates female celebrities because they're female, but that somehow, the misogynistic culture awards and promotes loathsome females, while kick ass ladies are kept back? As Billypilgrim... says, why are Paris, Britney, etc. considered major celebrities, while there's no male equivalents?

i'm training myself so i don't like or hate any specific celebrity. i don't know them. they don't really do anything "good" or "bad" for that matter. they're pretty much inconsequential to my life, and to the world as a whole, really. i save my ire for people like joe lieberman, or william kristol, omar al-bashir, or any number of other people who are genuinely poisoning the world and my brain.

@nyobserver: Whenever we take one step forward, backlash pushes us two steps back.

Maybe men are more forgiving towards each other because, if you are a guy, it's not really required, per se, to be attractive. Sure, it helps, but there is waaay more pressure on a woman to fit the mold. Do we really have an equivalent for a Phillip Seymour Hoffman or a Buscemi? Not really. So when we see an unflattering picture of Angie or Jen or Lindsey or whoverthefuck, many women breathe this collective sigh of relief.

I dunno, the girl-on-girl hate is so ingrained, so reflexive, that it's hard to even rationalize it.

@misssgolightly: P.S. something like 92% of women develop cellulite in their life so GET THE FUCK OVER IT, AMERICA,

I could see how other females dislike Denise Richards or Angelina for getting involved with married men.

When there were still rumors of Al Gore getting back in the race a lot of pundints said it wasn't going to happen coz he isn't losing any wieght.

@Her_royal_Highness: Yeah, but having read the BBC article this morning I think that's part of the point (and I say this as someone with no particular warm fuzzies for Heather Mills!). We don't just criticise female celebs for their looks, but also for their lifestyles, in a way that is far more prevalent than with male celebrities. One of the academics near the end of the article points out that female celebs are criticised for not conforming to the conventions of 'female' behaviour. Just look at how many celebrities get accused of being bad mothers. Which isn't to say it's not true--Kerry 'I smoke while pregnant' Katona is almost without doubt a terrible mother--but male celebs are hardly ever subject to that kind of criticism, other than in exceptional circumstances.

@ccchild: methinks you're onto something, c-cubed shirlock.

I think also, with famous men, (straight) women can fantasize about being with them ("I want to marry Brad Pitt!"), but the famous women ARE actually with these famous men, and become competition ("I want to marry Brad Pitt, but he's with that skank Angelina Jolie!").

However, I think the "body snarking" plays a big role too. It's socially acceptable to tear down a woman and judge her character based on looks/one bad photograph.

I've been harassed by several people because of my blog--about six in all. I've found out the identity of all of them: five are women, and one is a man married to one of the women. Two of my stalkers--the married couple--have attempted to out me multiple times, and they send on average 3-8 vitriolic emails to me a week. It's seriously mind-blowing that people, but especially women, feel that the Internet is made for hate (and not as Avenue Q suggests, for porn).

@SarahMC: All the more reason to be proud of Hills for sticking to her gunz in these crazy times.

Hate is a very strong word. How can you say that you hate someone you have never met? I would say that I have intense dislikes for certain celebrities, but for me it is always based on their behavour and how they come across as human beings. Also you certainly wouldn't say these things to their faces if you met them, so teh interwebz seems to be the safest way to vent your hatred for a lot of people these days.

@gherkinfiend: You don't have to defend her, but I bet she's held to a much higher standard than men who exhibit identical behavior.

@theladyvanishes:
seriously can we talk about that? He never gets any bad press from cheating, never. Angelina is painted horribly.

(and yet, I can never hate her, I mean the woman is incredible! gorgeous, works with the UN to try and make a difference, uses her fame to draw attention to causes etc etc)

Just. Plain. JEALOUSY.

I think it's partly bog standard misogyny, partly that the media (and I'm part of it, so i take responsibility) like to put pictures of pretty ladies out there, and are therefore inclined to make celebs out of birds who don't necessarily merit the acclaim. At least, not in the traditional way, because they have a talent worth celebrating or whatever. You would, after all, put Paris on your front cover before you put, I dunno, Philip Seymour Hoffman there...
Which in turn makes the publics go: why is this mindless blond bit of fluff getting recognition and DPSs in glossy mags? Confusion quickly turns to outraged indignation, and snarking, and so on...

@gherkinfiend: Oh no for sure! I'd never defend her (though I do sometimes read her column in OK partially because I love the notion that anyone on earth cares about her opinion on some other celeb she's never met). I'm just saying, why do we hate on her so much more than that awful husband she has? Why is Amy Winehouse so much worse than Pete Doherty?

Welcome to the life of a woman, where the snarky comments begin in preschool and continue 'till...forever.

What do people find so irksome about women anyway?

How could anyone hate Amy Winehouse? I can see being bemused by or befuddled by but hate?

@boring diatribes: I agree with you. Look at the Amy Winehouse SJ from earlier and you'll find people making light of her problems with addiction. Why draw the line at mocking a person's body/appearance when it's just as bad to mock their personal lives and decisions?

@Final: But why aren't the men involved not getting the backlash? The women get all of the blame while most of the time people just dismiss the men's involvement as typical male behavior

I think it's strange that women have become more competitive with each other in this way. My cousin and I both agreed that we try to look presentable everyday not for men, who don't really care, but for the women. I honestly don't know one woman who hasn't been guilty of snarking like that at one time.

The love/hate thing with Simon Cowell is so funny. He's the meanie, so his approval means *most* of all.

And I hate to think of the art we're missing 'cause real, great actresses either can't get work because of their looks or don't want to open themselves up to media scrutiny by entering the industry.

@Her_royal_Highness: Agreed. If anything, I think sometimes the actions of a person somehow taint a person's looks in the public's eyes.

I had no idea people hated Amy Winehouse. The girl clearly needs help, people. Geez.

Heather would probably make my top 5 hate list. But when I think "celebrities that I hate" I think predominantly of dudes: Dane Cook, Jonah Hill, Kobe Bryant, Jeremy Piven...

I have been victim of the tagged facebook photo, "OMG look at her pimple!" So shallow and hurtful.

I can't say that girls are more vicious. I think they are more open and catty about it. Men hate on womens' apparences, too. It sucks.

@ineffable.me: I don't know if the list would be more balanced in the US. I think what's most noticeable about most of the hated female celebrities (with the possible exception of Amy Winehouse) is that they don't really do anything. They're famous for being involved with someone else who is famous, or for taking their 15 minutes and exploiting it. Three of the five most loved celebrities are sports figures, who do something apart from shop and make reality television shows. I agree that there's a feeling that women can be more openly judged in regards to their appearance, and I constantly get irritated when people discuss Hillary Clinton's or Nancy Pelosi's clothing choices, because no one does that to a man. But it seems like women are also more likely to seek fame and attention, and maybe that plays a role in why they aren't as loved as some male celebrities.

Man, even when you put the opinion of women on other women in a vacuum (to eliminate external male influence), you still bring each other down. What the hell.

Me? By all rights, I should hate Christian Bale. I will never be famous like him. I will never look like the living Adonis he is. I am nothing like him and never will be, and his very existence mocks my wasted life.

But he's Batman. And he destroys any notion of heterosexuality I have (what term could I use here for that? You girls have lezebel, would I be...gayzebel? Homozebel?).