I suppose 100 other people have alrady said this, but if you stop writing, filming, and photographing her, she will go away. The media defines her and she lives and dies according to your attention.

Why is this stuff on Salon.com anyway?

I must admit that some of the invective was interesting, compelling even, vivid.

But everytime Rebecca writes one of these, she uses that "We" voice. Well, I am not you, and you are not me and we are not all together.

So what would be an even more interesting article is, "Why Am I So Damn Obsessed With Paris Hilton and Jennifer Aniston?".

Or perhaps Ms. Traister could do a little bit of "original reporting". She could take the bus across the river, or to some place other than Manhattan, or just hang out at the supermarket checkout line, and ask these women (and yes it is mostly women) why they are obsessed with celebrity culture. Or she could start an affinity group and video tape it, and report back her findings.

I'm sorry, but when a woman refers to another woman as "a piece of shite" like Tina Fey did to Paris Hilton, I'm out.

Until women learn to get along with each other and make alliances with each other instead of viciously attacking one another, the boys at Bohemian Grove will never invite us to their power pow-pows.

Until women learn to get along with each other and make alliances with each other instead of viciously attacking one another, the boys at Bohemian Grove will never invite us to their power pow-pows.

All that "sisterhood is powerful" bullshit is, well, bullshit. Not until women treat each other with exactly the amount of respect we deserve -- no less and no more -- will the boys bla bla bla. Just because you're female doesn't mean I have to support you or like you or think you're worthy of my good opinion. If you're a piece of lowlife trash, that's exactly what I'll call you.

as usual, many many people pretending not to care for PH along the lines of 'you fall into her trap by not ignoring her' and this one article has generated 121 letters so far! 122 with this one. I smell a rat.

You proved my point with your post.

Rebecca, I'm glad you wrote this article. Salon's readership probably didn't need to hear all the reasons Paris Hilton embodies everything wrong with pop culture, but maybe someone will talk to his/her preteen daughter and ask, "Who are the people you admire most?" Unfortunately, a lot of girls will respond "Paris, Lohan, Spears" -- the gang of 3 who are fixated on feuds, boyfriends, looking good, giggling at guys, and other similar stuff. Kids don't see the destructive behaviors inside clubs and limos, but it wouldn't hurt to talk to our children about these disturbing women and what they really represent. It may be a good opportunity to review values with them.

As one who often sees Paris in various clubs here in New York I've often wondered when the seemingly never-ending fascination with what we refer to as "Skank #1" and her antics was going to cease.

It appears that her evil reign is coming to an end, at least in New York which as we all know is always months ahead of Los Angeles. Paris has now been banned from two of New York's most popular gathering spots and I gather it won't be long until the same thing happens in LA. Once you can't get into clubs where all the press gathers your ill-gotten fame slowly starts declining. I know hers will be complete once she agrees to star on a VH1 reality show, I don't think it will be long until that happens.

I applaud you for this piece. It was well-written without being venomous, truthful without reaching into gossip and extremely hard-hitting. Thank you, thank you THANK YOU!

I see the damage that Paris and those of her ilk cause. I totally believe that their images contribute to the sexualization of young girls and reinforcement of the international opinion that America is a country filled with shallow sex obsessed idiots that only care about money, and I could go on. And on.

Although surprisingly venomous I think that Rebecca's call for this madness to end should serve as a rallying cry. Wouldn't it be amazing if society would collectively decide that there is no place for Paris and people like her? This mass realization would start a revolution to rid the world of deadly celebrity fluff that fills space in the brain that should be reserved for information of importance. Once everyone has cleared their minds of KFed, Baby Shiloh and Italian weddings we could truly harness our minds which would lead to the development of universal healthcare, and end to poverty and, ultimately, world peace.

Now that would be hot.

Sometimes you want to read something fluffy. Sometimes you've had enough of reading about all the wrongs in the world.

I think the reason people both hate Paris Hilton and are fascinated by her is because she has no sense of context and consequence.

She has no idea -- nor does she care to know -- about anything outside of herself and her little group of friends. She has no idea how the world fits together or what kind of effect she has on it. Most people do not have the resources, financial or otherwise, that she has, but they at least know that what they do affects others, even if it's a tiny circle of family and friends. Most people know they have to treat others with some common courtesy.

Paris Hilton does not have to give her fortune to charity or visit Darfur, although that would be nice. But it wouldn't kill her to just act decently to the people around her.

I can't beleive the incredible number of responses to this article. Just this morning, when I schlepped into work, ready to spend my first hour reading over the websites I only visit on the company's dime, all of the letters were either about a) Traister's subject matter wasn't serious enough b) or that by naming the devil (i.e. Paris), the author only serves to increase her hold over the masses.

Now, later in the day, the discussion has gotten more complex; we are delving into why we all hate Paris Hilton. Or why hate is bad. Or the moral difference between snorting cocaine and selling it. Or how pretty girls always get torn apart by their ugly counterparts.

But here's my measly two cents on the whole Traister's article...

I for one, never really saw Paris Hilton as some dark cloud of evil intent whose demonic aura could turn a Mouseketeer into a crotch flashing crack head. I suppose, like most people in my age group (30s) I assumed she was an idiot. But maybe she's not. I think Traister's article, though cruel towards it's subject, actually makes you have some sort of respect for a girl who can (presumambly) manipulate her posse into the most emabarassing kinds of behavior and still retain the "lurve" of her "fans."

I would say that Hilton is just a really mean girl, the bitchy teenage torturing kind, whose cruelty strikes both fear and adoration in her followers. Priveleged bullies usually do well in this country...if she turned her evil to politics, hell she could be president!