BY SOFIA MENDEZ
It takes two to tango— a common, idiomatic expression which suggests when more than one person is involved in a situation or argument, both parties are responsible.
On Sunday, February 23, a celebrity cheating scandal broke on the internet, which made social media go insane. The Kardashian family is known for their reality TV show, their physical appearances, their money and their brands, but now they have added a love triangle to their list of scandals.
Tristan Thompson, professional basketball player and Khloe Kardashian’s baby daddy, was spotted at a party that Sunday night. Witnesses told the public that the basketball player was cheating on Khloe with her sister Kylie Jenner’s best friend, Jordyn Woods.
From that moment on, the scandal has certainly taken its toll on those involved. On Instagram, Woods received immediate backlash. Trolls all over the world have commented several times on Woods’ page. Comments include statements like “Homewrecker,” “Now it’s time for your life to fall apart because you are disloyal,” “You’re so gross” and even comments claiming that her late father deserved to die.
Why is the female blamed for most of the incident, when clearly it takes two people to have a love affair?
But the situation involved not only Woods but Thompson, as well. Why is the female blamed for most of the incident, when clearly it takes two people to have a love affair?
Women are more likely to blame other women than the cheating husband for the breakdown of a relationship. A study reveals that while women tend to blame the ‘other woman,’ most men lay the guilt on their partner.
When Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt divorced, it was Angelina Jolie who was blamed as the villain for stealing someone’s husband— not Pitt. This doesn’t mean that women aren’t responsible for their own roles in relationships, but the fact remains that women on both sides of the infidelity equation are blamed, while the man in the middle tends to get off the hook easily.
It was Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” album, not a new Jay-Z album, that explored the rumored unfaithfulness in their marriage. It was Jennifer Garner, not Ben Affleck, and Gwen Stefani, instead of Gavin Rossdale, who gave the outspoken interviews after their splits. Both of these events had reportedly involved the nannies of their children.
“When a relationship ends, people have this natural inclination to believe that the woman didn’t take enough time to keep it in order.”
“We have this feeling that the woman is the custodian of the relationship,” biological anthropologist and senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute Helen Fisher said. “When a relationship ends, people have this natural inclination to believe that the woman didn’t take enough time to keep it in order.”
In other words, women basically get all the blame— they’re both the vixens and the victims. But now the real question is, why do guys get a free pass?
When it comes to mega-celebrities like Brad Pitt, the love the fans built for him is unconditional and they simply didn’t want their favorite actor to be at fault. That emotion carries over into how the media represents Pitt and how much affection fans have for him, and to give up that love is clearly difficult. If there’s another person that can be blamed for the problem, it is much easier to maintain affection for the man as opposed to letting him go.
When a couple disintegrates because of an affair, most of the time women are blamed and that’s the reality. Although it may seem like there’s nothing society can do about it, everyone deserves to hear the truth, which is very basic: It always takes two to tango.
Photo courtesy of Glamour
