“A friend of mine has a trophy wife, but apparently it wasn't first place.”

(quote by Steven Wright)

Every so often, thanks to certain anonymous individuals who I love, I get roped into watching various incarnations of the “Real Housewives” reality TV series on the Bravo network. Let me tell you, despite the half-hour length of each episode, it really feels like I’m sitting there forever. When I watch one of these shows, I feel as though they are the absolute bane of my existence.

Let me be clear: I have no deep-seated qualms with movies, TV shows, and other forms of media that are generally regarded as for women just because they’re targeted to women. By virtue of having had girlfriends, I have seen my fair share of “chick flicks,” and I can honestly say that there are more than a couple of these that I have come away from liking very much. My problem with “Real Housewives” includes the sheer fakeness of everything in that show. Sure it’s called “reality TV,” but I think the only reason it deserves that label is because the people in it exist. In fact, I was a little bit disappointed to learn last year that one of the “real housewives” is from my hometown of Berlin, CT, who thankfully was overshadowed by the young actor (and my former high school tennis teammate) Austin Stowell, also from Berlin.

It seems to me that everything these women do on the show is part of a carefully controlled plan to have the perfect life. The only problem is, there’s really no such thing in my opinion. Even if there was, I highly doubt it would consist of being overly catty, dramatic, superficial, and submissive to sexist and unattainable gender roles such as being a trophy wife. I think it gives a bad name to women that these “real housewives” are watched (and legitimately enjoyed) by countless individuals. Even worse still, I’m sure tons of young girls in this country watch and get what I feel is the wrong idea about women.

I must clarify that my brand of feminism definitely leaves room for women to be free to choose how they want to live their lives. Because of this, I have no problem with the show existing in and of itself, nor do I have a problem with their choices to partake in this sort of lifestyle. However, in line with the theme of some of my past blog entries, my biggest point is simply to be aware that the choice exists for all women to be either a professional trophy wife with no other real purpose, or something more.