...what he's missing

I've been meaning to write a post about this bizarre type of story for ages, but have kept forgetting about it. It strikes me as one of the oddest tabloid story-types, but you see it again and again.

Basically it goes like this: a couple have split up. The woman (it's always the female) is spotted / papped / does a photoshoot in which it's generally agreed she looks quite pleasant. Therefore "showing the man what he's missing!"

Here's a textbook example from the Mail:

Jilted Jo shows Ronnie what he's missing as she models for Vivienne Westwood at London Fashion week

What?

Former model Jo Wood showed her estranged husband Ronnie what he was missing when she returned to the catwalk for the queen of British fashion Dame Vivienne Westwood last night.

Ok, just repeat it then.

My beef with all this is: surely, having been in a relationship with the woman for several years, he knows exactly what 'he's missing'? Surely he would be aware of what his ex-partner looked like wearing clothes without the need for her to show him, via the rather circuitous route of mediating this message through the tabloid press, which he may not be reading anyway. Surely a more sensible way, if you were to try and show someone what they were missing, would be to send them a photograph and write on it "See what you're missing". At least you'd know then that they'd see it, no?

Who gives a shit what 'he's missing' anyway? Maybe she can't stand him any more. Maybe she doesn't give a monkey's whether he's missing her or not? Maybe they don't like each other much? Does any of this matter? No, because this woman's sole purpose in life is, it seems, to attract a man, and if she doesn't do that, then she will pine for him forever, desperately showing him 'what he's missing' in a misguided attempt to woo him back.

But you'll see this story repeated again and again. The names will change, but the words will be pretty much the same. God knows why it's so popular, but it is.