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Misogyny Rules
“Please, please, pleeeeease pick me, Bret!” “Flav, I'll do anything to keep my clock tickin'!” “Of course I'll accept this rose!”
Such are the most common,
most belittling begs of reality television today. And boy are people watching. VH1's "Rock of Love" was the highest rated cable reality
show on television. Twenty women vying
for the love of Bret Michaels? The makeup-wearing, bandana-obsessed (could
there be any other reason than a thinning and receding hairline?), 44-year-old
"Poison" band member.
Be it
the build up of living with, and competing against, other women desperate for
Bret's attention, or the appeal of having a real-life rocker boyfriend, these
twenty, thirty, and on occasion, forty-somethings, give it all they've got in
order to receive one-on-one dates with his Highness.
How these women validate it to their parents is beyond me.
"Well mom and dad, I'm going on 'Rock of Love,' you know, to
compete with other women for the adoration of Bret Michaels.
"What do you mean, 'Who?' The guy that was really popular when you
were in labor with me! Duh."
From "The
Bachelor" to "Flavor of Love," the misogyny of reality
television has reached an all time high.
Women are willing to do ANYTHING to win the "love" of the man calling
all the shots. Rumors of sexual favors
peppered the first season of "Rock of Love" (not that Bret chose the woman
accused of servicing him after hours).
Flava Flav's girls don't even pretend not to know what will most likely
keep them around. They openly admit to
needing "alone" time with the skinny, 48-year-old former Public
Enemy rapper.
Even on "I Love New York," one of the few shows where a woman is in the choosing position, the men still run the show. "New York," (or Tiffany as she's known by her family), placates each man, one by one. She morphes into whatever she needs to morph into in order to keep the guys’ attention. A dash of high drama here, and a pinch of "Oh no you didn't" there, Tiffany tricks viewers into believing that she is in the driver's seat. But the former Flava Flav disciple-slash-reject was doomed from the start.
Kids who (inevitably) watch
these shows see a very strong message. For little girls, they see their bodies as the way to get what they
want -- by using sex as a sure way to beat out the competition.
For young boys, it is perhaps an ever
stronger message: "Women are there
for your choosing, their self-esteems so low that YOU dictate what they should
do in order for you to love them."
It's no coincidence (in this writer's opinion) that the majority of women
featured in these shows have had breast augmentations, lip-plumping injections,
and countless other plastic surgeries. Low self-esteem is blaringly obvious on TV whether you have HD or
not.
Whatever the reason, its a sad, sad time for reality television.
Amen to that Whit! I never phased into the whole "reality" era of TV, but it is definitely the goldmine in today's media. Keep it old school!