Q. I hear a female Japanese celebrity has been banned from TV because she had an affair with a married musician, but he faces no such repercussions. Is this not a clear double standard?
A. Summarising it as a double standard is too over-simplified to be of any real use to us.
First off, the woman involved is extremely well known—a household name—and her 'family friendly' image is her chief selling point. Prior to the incident, the man involved was much less well known, and as music was his chief selling point, he had no such image to uphold. The affair is therefore going to have a very different affect on each of their careers.
Celebrities are held to a higher standard of conduct than regular people, and the cleaner the image presented, the harder the fall.
Secondly, much of the vitriol directed at the woman is over her attempts to play down the affair. She initially explained to reporters that she was unaware of his being married, but supposedly 'leaked' mail exchanges indicate that this was not the case. Anybody feeling similarly betrayed by the man has the option to not purchase his music. He's not a regular on TV or in advertisements, so nobody is being 'forced' to see him.
Thirdly, she hasn't been banned from TV. Her appearances in advertisements have been stopped because the companies involved, clearly, do not wish to associate their products with her at this time. The decision to cancel TV appearances was between her, her agency, and the TV production companies involved.
Her keeping a low profile until it all blows over really is the best for everyone.
Q. Still, he was the one who's married, so it's not fair that she should take all the heat.
A. Are you sure about that?
Marriage is a legally sanctioned institute—when two people get married, their personal relationship becomes elevated to public business, and therefore subject to State protection against external interference.
What, if anything, is to be done about the man's misgivings is entirely between him and his wife. It is their business—not ours, and certainly not the State's. The woman, though, is an outsider. She trespassed on a protected relationship, which is a serious infraction. That is our business.
If she was also married at the time, then both of them would have issues to sort out with their respective partners, and both of them would have committed trespass.
But she wasn't.
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