As a society, we are fascinated with the private lives of our politicians and celebrities. Affairs that were once discussed only with our intimate relations are making news headlines: relationship statuses, physical appearances and personal life choices. In light of recent events and the publicity of PM Julia Gillard's personal life, the boundary between our personal and public identities is fading.
Perhaps the trend has emerged from the virtual world of online media where personal matters are publicised. Facebook encourages its users to share with the public 'What's on your mind?', a matter traditionally discussed with intimate relations. On 28 July, Ivy Bean, the world's oldest Twitter user died aged 104 in Bradford, England. She had spent the last two years of her life 'twittering' once an hour from her nursing home. Her final days and weeks, traditionally a deeply intimate time, were shared with more than 56,000 followers.
Politicians and celebrities, through their use of such social networking sites, have become 'normalised' and, in a sense, humanised. In the past, celebrities were individuals larger than life and while celebrity gossip did still exist, rarely were their intimate choices scrutinised so intensely.
In a recent press conference Julia Gillard was asked if she had any plans to marry and whether her partner, Tim Mathieson, would move in with her to the Lodge. Gillard's declaration that Mathieson would share residence with her hit news headlines the following day. Since being sworn into power on 24 June, Gillard has faced questions regarding her unmarried status, her decision to remain childless and her physical appearance. Gillard's response to such an intense period of scrutiny is no surprise: 'The decisions in my personal life I will make for personal reasons.'
Yet perhaps our obsession with the private lives of celebrities and politicians stems from the lack of real intimacy in today's society. In a world where the illusion of intimacy infiltrates the virtual, online world, real intimacy is absent.
Traditionally, intimacy is about a connection with another person that allows our guards to be let down and our true identity to be exposed. Social networking sites prompt the illusion of intimacy by allowing us to create a 'profile' of ourselves to be viewed by and shared with others. Yet in many cases the person we 'create' for ourselves is a hip, ideal version. The very experience of intimacy is not intended to be shared