Let's not hedge here.
I'm a reality TV fan.
I'm a feminist.
If you dislike reality TV or feminism to the point where you are never going to agree with the notion that there's any merit to either, this is probably not the blog for you. You aren't going to dissuade me of the notion that certain reality shows aren't entertaining and fascinating, and you aren't going to dissuade me of the notion that women are fully fledged human beings who, in an ideal world, would be given the same range of options and be judged by the same standards as men (and that they currently are not, to the detriment of all of us). That's never going to happen.
However, I do think there's plenty of room for nuanced analysis and discussion of these topics where they intersect. In fact, I think it might even be necessary. And that's why I set up this blog - wherever I have time and ideas to jot down, I'll throw them here, and if you want, we can have some civilized discussion about them that doesn't derail discussion over at that other website where you may have seen me running my mouth about reality TV.
In case you're late to the party, a couple of weeks ago, NPR blogger (and former Television Without Pity Survivor/Amazing Race recapper) Linda Holmes wrote a piece for her "Monkey See" blog entitled "The Tribe Has Broken: How Sexism Is Silently Killing 'Survivor'". And the reality-tv fan circles in which I roll, lurk, or otherwise hang out all went apeshit.
In general, I think it's fantastic that this is being talked about, even by people who don't agree with it. Especially by people who don't agree with it, because sometimes in the process of articulating your opinion, you are compelled to reexamine it from the perspective of someone other than yourself. When you have to say out loud, in so many words, that you believe women are naturally inferior to men, or that a woman's primary value lies in whether you personally want to have sex with her, sometimes you realize what a limited, ridiculous, and indefensible point of view that is. And when it permeated every podcast on Rob Has a Website that week, I said as much, and I made it clear that I agreed with most of Linda's article.
The main thing that made me realize this needs to be talked about, and thought about, much more? That was the first time I've come under any amount of fire for anything I've said on RHAP, let alone the first time someone has said that I should not be allowed to have an opinion at all. I've said and written plenty of things that were ill-informed, hedgey, or just plain wrong over on Rob Has a Website, and nobody's ever taken me to task for them in any but the politest, most respectful way...but I touched a nerve by merely saying that I believed Linda was right. And in various comment threads, I was suddenly attracting downvotes where I hadn't before. People who mentioned my name in the context of this issue got downvoted too.
Nothing makes me want to keep talking about an issue like someone telling me not to talk about it. Hence this blog.
Some of the things I'll be discussing here in the coming weeks: is there sexism on network reality shows? Is it intentional? Where do we find it - in casting, editing, fan reactions, elsewhere; covertly or overtly displayed? Are reality shows generating content that is egregiously sexist, or merely reflecting an attitude that's deeply ingrained in society? What could the shows be doing differently without decreasing the shows' entertainment value? I want to dig into some statistics, analyze some episodes, take a close look at some contestants' game play, and make fun of some of the more ridiculous things Jeff Probst has said. I do not know how long I'll keep this up, or how often I'll post here.
You are entitled to disagree with me, here or anywhere. You are even entitled to do so in an uncivilized fashion, though understand that reflects more poorly on you than it does on me, and I'm under no obligation to engage with you respectfully if you do. (In other words, if you say something that's patently insulting or idiotic, instead of dissecting it point by point, I will probably just say "that's idiotic.")
While you may know me as the Amazing Race lady on Rob Has a Website, understand that this here is not Rob Has a Website, and the opinions expressed here should not be construed as being endorsed by Rob or his site. You can expect that my Amazing Race column and podcasts at said site will continue to be only incidentally flavored with talk of sexism, where it's overtly relevant to the discussion (and/or where Rob or a guest brings it up). I won't make my opinions a secret, but I'm not going to go out of my way to bring them up, either. If you take issue with things I say in this blog, address them here; taking them over to Rob's site is petty.
Also, this site isn't intended to compete with RHAP in any way, only to expand on some ideas that gained a bit of traction there, especially ahead of Linda's upcoming appearance on RHAP. In fact, I don't intend to make this a whole meta-discussion about RHAP - I just thought it was worth mentioning because anybody currently reading this post probably knows me best in my capacity as a contributor there. (Besides, I'm not a Survivor blogger for Rob, and I think most of what I'll be discussing here is probably going to revolve around that.)
Your questions, comments, and suggestions are more than welcome.
(Oh, and the title of the blog? Predictably, it's from an interview with Gloria Steinem. It was her joking suggestion of what reality TV should be aspiring to.)
