Drama highlights lack of male accountability

It should not surprise you that yet another salacious scandal has befallen the Kardashian family. Tristian Thompson, Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend and father to her infant daughter, was accused of cheating with longtime Kardashian family friend, Jordyn Woods. Not only a family friend, but Kylie Jenner’s best friend and roommate.
The tea has never been hotter.
However, I found Kardashian’s response to the matter more interesting than the drama itself. After days of media silence, Khloe tweeted the following:
“Why are you lying @jordynwoods?? If you’re going to try and save yourself by going public, INSTEAD OF CALLING ME PRIVATELY TO APOLOGIZE FIRST, at least be HONEST about your story. BTW, You ARE the reason my family broke up!”
This statement is severely problematic, but it highlights our reluctance as a society to hold men accountable for their actions. Instead of addressing Thompson, who is her partner and now a member of her family, Khloe publicly attacks Woods. Kardashian cites Woods as the reason why her family has broken up. She places absolutely no responsibility on her unfaithful boyfriend.
To make matters worse, Thompson has a history of infidelity. Kardashian later states that Thompson is addressing the situation in private, but shouldn’t her initial outrage have been directed towards the source?
Unfortunately, Kardashian is not the only woman cutting men moral slack. It is a common trend for women to blame the outside woman for their partner’s unfaithfulness. It appears that it’s easier to forgive the man than the intruding woman.
Allowing excuses to be made for male behavior is a concept that originates from the patriarchy, and is enforced by conditioning women to compete against each other.
“Feminist psychology chalks up this indirect aggression to internalizing the patriarchy. As Noam Shpancer writes in Psychology Today, ‘As women come to consider being prized by men their ultimate source of strength, worth, achievement and identity, they are compelled to battle other women for the prize,’” states New York Times columnist Emily V. Gordon.
The message? Only the most beautiful, intelligent and talented woman is worthy of male attention, so we must battle each other for it. The patriarchy furthers this idea by depicting images of unattainable physical and emotional attributes that supposedly comprise the “ideal” woman. Women are taught that these unrealistic expectations are what determines their worth, and therefore seek these attributes in an effort to be the most desirable.
So, who can blame Khloe? She views Woods as a threat to the security she gained from having a male partner. In response, she attacks her opponent, and overlooks the actions of her boyfriend. She reinforces the idea that women must compete, and that men do not have to be held accountable for their actions.