Conference co-organiser Prof Diane Negra said: “Saturation coverage of these ‘women in crisis’ stories may be testing the limits of the public appetite. This seems an opportune time to analyse how such stories work, why they are repeated so frequently and what cultural functions they serve.”

Entitled ‘Going Cheap? Female celebrity in the tabloid, reality and scandal genres’, the one-day event on Wednesday June 25 has been organised by Prof Negra and Dr Susan Holmes, both of UEA’s School of Film and Television Studies. It will investigate our fascination with self-destructive female celebrities such as Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse and Lindsay Lohan, and ask:

·         Is female celebrity depreciating in value?

·         Are self-destructive male celebrities treated differently? (As demonstrated last year by the comparative respectful media distance following actor Owen Wilson’s attempted suicide)

·         Do new media outlets such as YouTube serve to intensify these scandals?

·         Do white working class female celebrities uphold ‘white trash’ and ‘chav’ class stereotypes in ways that relate to national identity?

Media and cultural studies experts from across the UK and US will be attending the conference. Papers given will include:

‘Britney’s tears: The abject female celebrity in postemotional society’

‘Celebrity chav: Fame, femininity and social class’

‘Hooker, victim and/or doormat: Lindsay Lohan and the culture of celebrity notoriety’

‘The blurring of fame and talent: Representations of female celebrity in Heat Magazine’

‘From queen of the jungle to tabloid folk devil: Kerry Katona as ‘white trash mother’’

‘Heather McCartney Mills: A woman with an agenda’