I have to admit to you all that I am obsessed over reality television. I, like most of my girlfriends, cannot get enough of shows like The Bad Girls Club, Basketball Wives of Miami and L.A., Love and Hip Hop, just to name a few. The drama witnessed in these shows keep me hooked and coming back for more. I will say that it is a very guilty pleasure of mine, and I sometimes feel so juvenile in watching these shows. Nonetheless, I figured it would be fun to discuss.
All of these shows appear to be social experiments that show interactions among strangers (in most cases). The synopsis of the latest season of The Bad Girls Club, for example, was as follows:
“Seven bad girls, one house. Love them or hate them, but you can’t stop watching them! New cast, new city, same attitude.”Bad Girls Club New Orleans” brings drama to a new level with a cast of young women who are powerfully bold, outrageously funny and endlessly entertaining. The series brings seven new ‘bad girls’ together in a house where the women recognize that their outrageous behavior has hindered their relationships, careers and lives. They claim they want to change, but will living together help them move forward and turn their lives around – or will chaos rule?”
~Source: http://www.oxygen.com
The purpose of the show seems semi positive; but the ending result of these women placed in the Bad Girls Club end in scenes like this… (I must warn you that this clip does contain profanity)
To me there is some comedy in this particular altercation; however, it is truly a sad one in retrospect because these ladies are fighting over contacts. Fights like these are what gives shows like the Bad Girls Club, and others an overwhelming viewership. I do not have the statistics, but I assume that the majority of viewers come from a female audience. This leads to my “discussion” for the day. What makes women so attracted to these types of shows?
I can only speak for myself, and I can say that these shows present a false sense of reality in. It is not realistic that you would just go to someone that you do not like, or are having a conflict with and just punch them in the face. I think that watching these shows really allows the viewer to live vicariously through the characters in the show. I was talking to my boyfriend about this topic, and he said that women have an attraction to these shows because there is an emotional attachment gained in these shows. He said that the excitement from the drama in these shows comes from the characters acting out of our (viewer) own internal desires. My primary reason for watching is entertainment; however, in many ways I agree with my boyfriend. There is always a protagonist and antagonist within the plot of each episode, which really draws the viewer in to have a favorite. Every week there has to be one to hate, which builds anticipation for the drama; almost like a good versus evil type of deal.
As much as I enjoy these shows, there is a small part of me that gets frustrated by watching. Honestly, it is very disheartening to see beautiful, and I am assuming intelligent, women on the television showing all of their body parts, speaking in the foulest language, and just looking ignorant in front of millions of viewers. I think that the portrayal of these women does not really help the perception of women in the media. Women are often portrayed as hyper sexualized, half dressed, and obnoxious when under the influences of either drugs or alcohol. These shows do an awesome job of reinforcing these stereotypes. What is the lasting effect of this? Do men expect “normal” women to act in this manner? How does seeing these women on the TV shape young women’s’ thoughts about how they should conduct themselves? Unfortunately I think the lasting effects are negative and that more and more young women are falling into the trap of what these reality television stars portray life to be. Life is not all about fights and a lack of accountability or consequence for one’s actions, nor is life about drunken nights and wild parties. But I have to tell you, they are very entertaining to watch. I will leave you with more “entertainment.”
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
I think part of the appeal of shows like this is that they make us feel like we’re doing so much better than them. We’ll watch the shows and sit back, making fun of them, saying how silly those women are for catering to sexist interpretations of what women “should be,” while we gush about how much better and enlightened our lives are. I’ll admit it, I’ve watched and do watch similar shows. It is so easy to get sucked into watching them. The other result I think that comes from shows like this is that we watch them but “it’s only to make fun of those women,” it’s not actually because we’re taking them seriously. All the while, we forget that producers know most people watch the shows for that very reason. It boosts our own confidence and makes it “acceptable” tv time. I know that as I type this, I’m sitting here thinking about my reality tv “sesh” last night with the real housewives and I’m thinking, next Monday. I think if someone chooses to watch shows like this, that’s fine. I just think we need to recognize the goals of the shows, how they have the potential to impact us, etc.
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