In today's edition of "Perceptive Social Commentary Found in Celebrity Gossip Columns": Liz Smith, who writes about recent coverage of actor Matthew McConaughey's wild and crazy adventures as a single man. Citing photos of the star falling down drunk, Smith reports that most stories about him "are all very 'isn't it great ... what a guy ... he's got women every night ... it's all casual, and the gals know it.'" But the venerable gossip maven also points out that "if this kind of story was written about, oh, say, Lindsay Lohan (or any woman!), she'd be branded an out-of-control tramp. The double standard is alive and well in the 21st century."
I know, I know. It's small and it's shallow and who cares. But in a world brimming with celebrity detritus, it's worth crediting its chroniclers when they use their space to make a larger point.
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