On Nov. 7, E! News reported  that 24-year-old artist Halsey and 41-year-old John Mayer appeared to be in a budding romance based on Instagram comments and posts shared between the two.

Halsey responded to these reports on Nov. 7 by tweeting “I just had a ground-breaking idea. What if…we let female artists…have friends…without assuming that they are sleeping together? I know I know. It’s like, completely ambitious but like, imagine if we like, tried?” The tweet soon created buzz and generated another article from E! News.

Halsey took to Twitter again Nov. 8, this time to directly call out E!, stating “ur platform literally put out the article this tweet is about….. am I being punk’d rn????????!!!!!!”

This situation is the epitome of the ridiculous standards and stigmas society holds for female artists. Instead of writing in a way in which both individuals were equal, E! News targeted and villainized Halsey because she recently left a relationship. Bringing up past relationships is not a valid argument to shame women. 

The article reports that “the two have known each other for awhile” as a justification for alleging there must be something romantic going on between them. Just because a woman knows and is friends with a man for a long time does not mean the two are involved romantically. Yet, it is always the assumption. 

This situation adds more evidence to the idea that men are allowed to do whatever they please in relationships, while women are continuously scrutinized and shamed for their actions. Titling the article “Don’t Tell G-Eazy, But Halsey and John Mayer Are Hard-Core Flirting” placed unnecessary blame on Halsey for living her life as she please. This reaction is archaic and unnecessary.

Women are not to blame for existing as they want and choosing to explore relationships in their personal lives, which are none of our business. We must realize that what women in the public eye choose to share with us is all we get. We are not entitled to know anything about them, and we do not have the right to hastily make assumptions based on trivialities.

There is also serious disconnect between the way women treat one another. We should actively lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. In a world where Halsey is targeted for speaking to Mayer and subtly “slut-shamed” by a news organization as big as E! News simply because she is fresh out of a relationship, we must do better to protect our fellow women. 

Women in the music industry are brave for telling stories about their personal lives through their art to millions of people. Shaming them for doing so is not acceptable. Women need to be allies for all women. Otherwise, we have no right to preach feminism.