Let's Talk About The Real Housewives Phenomenon

What in the world is going on in American society that TV franchises like The Real Housewives and The Bachelor/Bachelorette have been so damn successful? I'm not going to sit on a high horse and lie and say I am above these shows because I do watch them and a part of me loves to lie on the couch and judge the hell out of the "real" people that are on them...they make me feel smarter, albeit materially poorer.... but really... what is going on here?  As a female viewer, I won't even excuse my own interest in the shows by claiming it's only harmless "  guilty pleasures,"  or just rewards for slaving away at my studies in grad school, or even argue that it's an escape, because there is so so much more to it than that. I don't know where to begin. But let's start with the Real Housewives Producer, Andy Cohen.

Andy Cohen is undoubtedly one of the most affable and successful TV producers on television today. (In fact, the shows are so successful, he probably owns the Bravo Network by this point in time). He is most certainly a hot commodity in entertainment land as evidenced by his recent  appearance on cover of the  NY Times Magazine. His "Watch What Happens Live" is a half  hour long love fest between him and A-list  celebrities,  all of whom  sit around with him on his cozy little club house set, and "plug" themselves while sipping smart, sexy looking alcoholic drinks, sharing their witty insights about the Housewives and various other really important issues (not)  with us, the plebs out in TV land....  Sigh,.....,  their insights, which are about as deep as the overly tanned, big-boobed-bitchy women they are slamming, are centered on taking sides in the petty fights that the Housewives shows are brimming over with. I won't lie, it is kind of entertaining, it's like watching a  car crash in slow motion... but the bad news is, we are all in the back seat...

   And let's face it,  Andy is a disarming, lovable gay male who has what appears to be a permanent shit eating grin, which is extremely  endearing. (The cute grin is even figured into his franchise logo).  Yet the fact of the matter is, behind that grin lurks a pimp, and a professional shit stirrer who makes  his fame and fortune by producing and hosting a television franchise that depicts women in just about the most horrible hostile  light possible. I will admit I have been taken in by his charming grin, and I kinda like the guy, but somewhere in the back of my mind as I contemplate  things like equal pay,  I am always thinking of him as the enemy, because he is  promoting and even egging on the nasty mean girl dramas that this show thrives on. Does he really hate women?  I can't say, but wow, what a way to image build women! 

And yes, these women are all trying to build their  "business empires"  and are obviously  using the show to promote their endeavors,  but  why , knowing what we know about the history of women's rights in this country, do  we enjoy watching these women degrade themselves, even whore themselves  for the sake of the almighty dollar? Is it making me feel better about my own values? Probably. Does it make me feel financially inadequate- sometimes, if for nothing else, for the sheer fact that I can't believe these shallow ninnies have so  much more money to throw around than me (  and I have yet to see a book on a shelf, or  anywhere in any of their homes...).... They just seem so unbelievably shallow...and they don't even appear to be all that happy as they flash the red bottoms of their $600 Manolo Blaniks - Is this the American Dream for women?   Moreover, although they all have some kind of charity they seem to endorse in front of  cameras ( in between cat fights and backstabbing) , it seems to be at the expense of the rest of us women. Doesn’t seem  they  are all that charitable when you think of it.  They are worshippers of the almighty dollar, and God forbid another woman gets in their way because pass the popcorn, here comes another snipe fest...


  The show amounts to a really bad public image of American women- and that's a high price to pay when U.S. women are still only earning  77 cents on the male dollar, according to the latest  census statistics. (That number drops to 68% for African American women and  58% for Latinas).  How are we ever going to be taken seriously on the equality front with images like these?  Whether we like it or not, or whether you think I am just being a stick in the mud of plain ol' fun- these are horrible images that set women back decades, and it's starting to bug me. I'm wondering why it doesn't bug more women- and why there haven't been more outcries? 

My point is this... women seem to love Andy, and don't seem to notice or care that all the while he is laughing, smiling, grinning that shit eating grin, and producing more and more Real Housewives around the country,  he is  taking a proverbial sledge hammer to the fight for equality.  It's a public relations fiasco on that front- as it perpetuates stereotypes of women that  many intelligent women before us have fought against. The women on his shows are all but ruled by their love of  lavish material things,  are obsessed with fame, collagen lips, silicone breasts,  plastic surgery, tanned skin. . and the list goes on. They compete viciously with each other in everything from, who has the biggest mansion, who can look the most sluttish, whose husband loves them the most and who can demonstrate that love by lavishing them with things like the most diamonds, who owns the fanciest cars, the largest breasts, the longest hair extensions, the best vacation spots, the most expensive wardrobe, the most nannies for their kids, blah blah blah blah and they are hottest crap on TV... If one could argue that these women are savvy business women and therefore in this respect, great role models, then shouldn't they be competing with men instead of tearing each other down every chance they get?

I'm writing this blog because I am concerned with how women are being portrayed - frankly I am getting sick of these shows like Real Housewives, and the Bachelor/Bachelorette that keep driving home the idea that all women really want is a man, a mansion, big boobs, and hair extensions- ugh- is too much to ask for a show in which the women are nice to each other, earn money with integrity, show compassion to others, are interested in other things besides clothes sex, money and cute cocktails, and who at least occasionally like to read a good book? I have to say, shame on you Andy Cohen, shame on the American public for accepting this crap, and shame on me for watching …WTF .... 


for my next blog I plan on reviving the "Snappy Retorts" column of Mad Magazine fame in the '70's....