How "real" are the Real Housewives?

As embarrassing as this may be, I love the Real Housewives series on Bravo and am an avid viewer of many of the series. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is in full swing and I cannot get enough of it. It is like a car accident that you can't take your eyes away from. There is always more drama than one could imagine and these grown women and mothers end up screaming and bitching at each other like 16 year old girls.

This series originally started as a show to follow wealthy housewives around and film their fabulous lives of attending glamorous parties, carpool in a Range Rover, and document their jam packed social lives. It was supposed to be document these women's lives as they are normally without the cameras and fame. I do not remember what the original series was like, but I am not sure that any season of any series was ever like that. It is obvious that some of these women would never be in the same social circles or would never be "friends" if it weren't for this show, and they are put together because the producers know how much tension there will be between two "characters".

When I was growing up, my mom was a full-time mom just like many of these women claim to be. I do not ever remember hearing or witnessing anything even similar to what these women experience. It makes me think about what everyday Americans who watch this show think about women with money. Do they think that all wealthy women act this way and are this dramatic? Do they think that is an appropriate way to act? Do they think that is how you should act if you are wealthy? I sure hope not. I hope that viewers realized that this is not a real portrayal of these women's lives. Hopefully they realize that the shows producers feed the women all of the drama for better ratings.

Reality TV "Standards"

With so many reality TV shows, there is a new genre of entertainment that is creating new "norms" for the American public. Previously, many norms and life lessons were taught to television viewers through sitcoms, dramas, and cartoons. For example children would observe their favorite TV characters saying "please" and "thank you" on the program and that would serve as an additional learning tool in addition to children being taught to be polite by their parents. There are so many more reality TV shows then when I was a child and now our youth is watching these shows and observing poor behavior and they may think that it is normal. For example, if a young child is sitting in the same room as their mom who is watching The Real Housewives of New Jersey, they could see one of the main "characters" Teresa getting so angry that she flips a table. Another example is if one is watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians and watching the Kardashian sisters going shopping and spending obscene amounts of money in a single shopping trip, or hearing them talk about their Christian Louboutin shoes. Anyone from pre-teens to young professionals could watch this and begin to think that it is normal for women to have Christian Louboutin shoes or spend way too much money while shopping is okay and normal. I feel that these shows that are based off of money and wealth have had a horrible influence over young Americans and has feed into the overspending trend that many citizens have a problem with. People watch these reality shows and want to be just as glamorous as the people thy watch on TV and spend money they may not have to feel as if they are a part of this unrealistic world.