Pop culture and the female mind: an insight.

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I’m sometimes asked how Mamamia can have posts about the travesty of breast ironing in Cameroon, the ettiquette of bringing kids to an adult party, a review of a semen cookbook (if you missed that one, run don’t walk here), a discussion about political leadership, a debate about the best age to lose your virginity, another about depression, a diabtribe against magazines who profit from making women feel shit about their bodies, clip of Lindsay Lohan’s wardrobe and a conversation about pregnancy discrimination all going on simultaneously. Isn’t that contradictory?

To that I say this:   have you ever met a woman?

This is how our brains work. We can mentally multi-task and flick from something shallower than a puddle to something much deeper. And back again. Endlessly. We can switch gears and use different parts of our minds all at once. This is something to be proud of and it’s the way I run this site.

Celebrity news feed is an interesting addition and one I wanted to give a whirl. I’ve never believed that being interested in frocks or gossip means you’re stupid. In a mostly balanced diet, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional cheeseburger.

One thing that does bother me however is the tone of much of the celebrity news found in magazines and particularly online. Misogyny pretty much sums it up. Hello Perez Hilton. I used to be one of the many millions who looked at sites like Perez for my fix of mindless gossip but more than a year ago, I had to walk away, sicked by the tone which was unrelentingly nasty to the point of cruelty – about people’s weight, age, appearance, sexuality….even their children mocked mercilessly.

Before I committed to introducing this celebrity news feed, I was adamant about a few things. Firstly, I want the tone of news items to be neutral. Not bitchy, not nasty, not negative. I don’t want shit about losing baby weight or anything that’s bad for body image. And no nasty snark which seems to be the sole purpose of many gossip sites and mags.

The items themselves are not written by me, they’re just automatically published as a feed throughout the day (and night!) so if you see something you don’t like that’s slipped through the net, be sure to let me know at feedback @mamamia.com.au

The good news is that there will be up to 50 stories a day so you can keep coming back for new content constantly (what do you mean you need to do some work or feed your children? TRY HARDER!).

So anyway. We’re going to be introducing a few new things in coming months. Like some kind of book club and more food content and possibly health content also. And I’d love to hear from you about what you’d like to see more – or less –  of here at Mamamia.

When I’m planning and posting content, I’ve always gone very much on gut instinct and occasionally, my gut gets it wrong so I’m always delighted to hear from you about what rings your bells.

What do you think of the celebrity stuff? Take it or leave it? What would make you come here more often or perhaps stick around for longer when you do?

Do you think there’s a place for celebrity news in the world of a switched-on, socially aware woman?

[image by Lallisig]