There's Only One Woman On The "Most Trusted Celebrities" List

Monday, Forbes announced “The 10 Most Trusted Celebrities.” As BlackBook‘s Rohin Guha notes, there is just one lady on the list:

Sally Field. (“You really like me!”) It’s interesting that James Earl Jones is number one, since he is most famous for the line, “I am your father.” America trusts the deep, comforting rumble of a dad-voice (Shall we blame the Patriarchy and Judeo-Christian domination?) Other men on the list include dad “types” like Billy Cosby, Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman and Ron Howard. Guha asks: “Why doesn’t America trust its leading ladies?” And answers: “Because we demand so much of them, we’re expecting failure.” He claims that Lindsay Lohan “throwing a hissy fit” would grab more headlines than Meryl Streep “looking radiant at an awards ceremony.” Well, looking radiant isn’t exactly headline-worthy, but he has a point. Guha also writes:

American consumption of culture is always tinged with some kind of Lolita-esque spite. The kind invoked when a pedigreed star like Nicole Kidman refuses to indulge the public for more, choosing instead to shut herself away from the world. Which, in turn, fuels jokes of her robotic composure.

It’s no secret that our society is hypercritical of women. But since the daddy voices are so popular, my theory about the trust list is this: From Kate Gosselin to Betty Draper to Nadya Suleman and Angelina Jolie, America has mommy issues.