Column: It’s not just a catfight: it’s beef

I unashamedly watch E! News every weekday evening. The mostly Kardashian-related coverage might seem vapid, but I find celebrity culture pertinent to the films, music and other media I consume on a daily basis.

I’m rarely baffled by E! (the network is fairly straightforward with its values), but I was annoyed by a recent Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry story. After a disagreement, Swift allegedly wrote the song “Bad Blood” in honor of Perry.

The entire story is hearsay, yet media outlets have latched onto the “catfight” and provoked its longevity by persistently asking Swift and Perry about their relationship.

Girl-on-girl hate dominates media narratives, from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” franchise to ABC’s “The Bachelor.” Women disparaging one another is so common that we often fail to recognize it’s a case study in mutually assured destruction.

Pitting women against one another stalls the feminist movement and discourages solidarity. We, women and men, are all responsible for encouraging and supporting one another creatively and professionally.

During an interview with The Telegraph, Swift commented that she’s “never going to talk about (Perry).” Her focus is, and should be, her music. But Swift’s “no comment” comment gained more attention than the rest of the article and any artistic discussion involved.

As a fan of Swift and Perry, I’ve pondered the origin of their supposed dispute. I can’t help but point to John Mayer, a mutual ex-boyfriend, as the source. But he isn’t the enemy.

Media lends validity to male vs. male “beef.” There’s credibility in Jay Z’s Takeover but not Lil’ Kim’s Black Friday. Though both diss tracks attack fellow artists, critics consider Takeover a poetic firestorm and Black Friday an exhibit of female pettiness. Masculinity supports “healthy competition” and encourages men to measure themselves against each other.

This problematic dynamic promotes physical violence rather than dialogue as a solution to problems. Patriarchal ideals support women verbally accosting one another while men physically assault themselves. Neither approach is necessary or productive.

I recently attended a signing and Q&A for Kim Gordon’s new memoir, “Girl in a Band.” As a founding member of Sonic Youth, Gordon is a revered musical figure. Her expansive knowledge would interest any reader, regardless of whether she or he is familiar with No Wave music, the ‘80s New York art scene or fashion design.

I was excited to read Gordon’s memoir but upset by critical coverage which focused almost exclusively on scattered negative comments about other women. Gordon name-checks dozens of high-profile male artists, yet her anti-Lana Del Rey comments caused undue uproar.

I learned a great deal from Gordon’s observations of male narcissism and female codependence, but these concepts won’t garner heavy traffic. I guess we’ll just have to write our own narratives.