LOVE RIVALS :: Why Can't We Let Go Of Jen vs Ange?

I'm quite particular about my daily digestion of news. I like to start at the top and work my way down. Once I'm finished with the respectable journalism, I move onto the tabloid papers for some fluff pieces and barely hidden bias.

I was leisurely browsing the Daily Mail yesterday whilst Liv napped and, in between your usual gems about Home and Away starlets and various Kardashia, I came across this:

I believe my exact words were: "Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me."

Here are the facts: In January 2005, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston filed for divorce after marrying in 2000. In April 2005, the first photos of Brad and Angelina Jolie were published, showing them on a beach in Kenya with her son Maddox. The first public acknowledgement of their relationship came in January 2005, when Angelina confirmed she was expecting a child with Brad. Since then, they have adopted another child from Vietnam, and welcomed biological twins in 2008. After almost 10 years together, they married in France in August 2014.

Since splitting with Brad, Jennifer publicly dated John Mayer and Vince Vaughn and has been engaged to actor-writer Justin Theroux since 2012.

All gossip and speculation aside - Brad and Jennifer clearly appear to have moved on. He is married with 6 children and she is engaged to a man she has been with for almost 4 years. So why does the media insist on continuing with this #TeamJolie vs #TeamAniston narrative? (FUN FACT: It is said that after the split, Team Aniston T-shirts outsold Team Jolie 4 to 1. I would like to meet the women buying these shirts.)

I can't think of a time when I have ever seen male celebrities pitted against each other as LOVE RIVALS in the press. Is this because we expect and accept that men will naturally compete for the fair maiden's hand?

Sadly, I think more than anything this comes down to the almighty dollar. Since 2005, magazines have thrived off the back of Brangelina and Poor Jen. Whether it's pictures of the beautiful Jolie-Pitt kids, or speculation about the occupancy of Jennifer's uterus, magazines with a Jolie/Pitt/Aniston story on the cover have consistently done well at the newsstand. At the end of the day, a fierce rivalry will always tempt readers more than a pleasant friendship. Ange vs Jen, Lauren Conrad vs Heidi Montag, LeAnn Rimes vs Brandi Glanville - these are just a few of the famous "catfights" that have been plastered on the front covers of our tabloids.

I just wish that we could do better than this. I wish there were more stories out there of women supporting each other, rather than tearing each other down. As long as we continue to let the media portray us as bitches who hate each other, the longer that society will continue to assume that's what all women are like. The longer that employers will overlook women for positions because they think they're catty and unprofessional. And most importantly, the longer that young girls will think that it's acceptable to be horrible to each other, because "that's how girls are."

I'll leave you with a quote from Caitlin Stasey - feminist babe and my new hero. Be kind to each other, ladies!

"Women - love each other, support each other, defend each other. It comes at a greater cost to you to attack the women around you than it does to empower them."