Is it finally OK to be frank about 2000s pop culture? ‘It was profoundly, cheerfully horrible to women’
The imprisonment of Russell Brand for sexual crimes and allegations against David Walliams have sparked renewed scrutiny of 2000s pop culture, which experts describe as 'profoundly, cheerfully horrible to women'.
A 2008 episode of BBC's Never Mind the Buzzcocks shows choreographer Arlene Phillips being subjected to sexually charged banter by host Simon Amstell and panellist Dermot O'Leary. Their remarks, now resurfacing amid allegations against Russell Brand and David Walliams, exemplify the pop culture environment of the 2000s that experts say was 'profoundly, openly, cheerfully horrible to women'.
Culture of objectification
The era was characterized by the normalization of women's objectification through outlets like lads' magazines Zoo, Loaded, FHM and Nuts, which mixed lifestyle content with overtly sexual images. Sophie Gilbert, author of Girl on Girl, explains that the shift from third-wave feminism to postfeminism created an environment where women were expected to 'own their own objectification – to enjoy it and profit from it, and never complain'.
The popular culture of the 2000s was profoundly, openly, cheerfully horrible to women.
Celebrity harassment
Young female celebrities faced relentless objectification. When Charlotte Church was 15, a website ran a countdown to her 16th birthday (age of consent), reported by The Sun, while Radio 1's Chris Moyles spoke on air about wanting to take her virginity. Britney Spears recalled reporters asking about her breast implants and hymen status. In 2004, Heat magazine published a special on celebrity cellulite, circling supposed offending patches on stars like Beyoncé.
Church reflected: 'I was made into this caricature: sexualised, patronised, ridiculed. I feel my character, the narrative of who I was in the world, was taken from me, and made into something salacious, or something to be ridiculed.'
Comedy's toxic environment
Comedy particularly blurred the line between provocation and intimidation. Brand's persona was built around sexual excess, while Walliams played a character who pulled down audience members' trousers. In a 2007 Big Fat Quiz, Noel Fielding objected to Jonathan Ross suggesting Lily Allen might 'go home with her dress still on', to which Brand quipped about potential rape.
Comedian Josie Long recalled Brand biting her face and chasing her around when she was 22: 'I would giggle because I was 22 and it was overwhelming.' Looking back, she understood it as physical assault.
Resistance and change
Despite the pervasive culture, many women objected but risked being labeled 'prudish, humourless or outdated'. Anna Tippett found in a 2012 survey that 57.8% of respondents classified lads' magazines as 'soft pornography'. Now, the rise of feminist blogging, increased women in power positions, and social media's accountability mechanisms have begun to shift this dynamic.
As Jessica Toomey of the Live Comedy Association notes, many victims in the past 'just wouldn't have felt empowered, informed or supported enough to know how' to report misconduct. The current reckoning suggests that while the culture has evolved, the full impact of that era's treatment of women continues to unfold.
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