Excuse me for butting in here. I don’t much about Halsey (my first reaction to the title was: “Admiral Halsey was a man, wasn’t he?”). Based on what was written I don’t think she’s crazy at all. But I also see we have only her side of the story. Her relationship was “abusive” because he cheated on her? Did she ever cheat on him during that period? Was it really necessary to share all of the details with the entire planet?

Maybe….

What really caught my attention was the notion that women & girls standing up for themselves are seen as pathological. I dunno. In the 90s & teens lots of TV shows & motion pictures depicted women, & particularly girls, punching out guys who said stupid, disrespectful things to them. Usually not rising to the level of calling anyone a whore, either. I remember how the guy never seemed to anticipate the blow — however obvious her body language — & he never got up to fight back.

Sure, that’s media. Not life. In real life people don’t generally punch one another out for saying dumb, disrespectful things. But given the intensity of media-drive society, it doesn’t really take that long to alter peoples’ views. I don’t think movies or TV encourages assault & battery, but I do believe it has made the idea of women standing up for themselves commonplace & expected.

As to article’s central thesis: would Halsey be called “crazy” if she were a man? Again, I don’t know. But I am beyond certain that a male performer who appeared on a stage like the one described for Halsey’s SNL appearance would be considered borderline abusive & rightly, in my opinion, neurotic. “Get over it!” he’d be told. Not coddled as a victim of anything but his own demons.