Yes, human rights attorney and activist, Amal Clooney, and her actor husband, George, are expecting twins.
The news was announced Thursday on The Talk by host Julia Chen after weeks of speculation.
More interestingly, though, when social media got a hold of the news, many articles began with “George Clooney’s wife” and “Amal Clooney’s maternity style will be LEGENDARY.” Maybe these headlines don’t seem wrong to you, but they definitely don’t sit right with me.
Differently, when Paper Magazine broke the news, they took an ironic spin on the announcement, headlining their article with “Amal Clooney and Actor Husband Are Expecting Twins.” Paper Magazine turned the tables and made the headline focused on Amal Clooney, not her husband, while simultaneously taking a dig at the sexist headlines that came with the news.
Amal Clooney is an international law and human rights attorney with a history of clients ranging from Julian Assange to Enron, and she has taught at Columbia Law School. Yet, her “hidden” pregnancy, style and famous husband are clearly more notable facts (feel my sarcasm).
Don’t believe me? Just Google Amal Clooney or Kate Middleton, and the first things that pop up for these powerful women have to do with either their style or their husbands, not their accomplishments.
It’s clear more headlines need to look like Paper Magazine’s. One group, The Vagenda, has embraced this mission asks its Twitter followers to turn around snarky headlines into ‘normalized’ ones. Here are a few examples of what headlines should be:
This article or the headlines aren't meant to diminish the accomplishments of men, but it needs to be clear that it doesn’t take a famous or powerful husband for a woman to be a star.
It’s time for headlines to treat women like PEOPLE, not objects.