The Real Housewives of Everywhere

Following the reality obsession, the new show is the “Real House Wives” series. The different sections of this show include Orange County, Atlanta, New Jersey, DC, New York. The show bounces back in forth between “housewives”. It consists of following them around through their day as well as following their struggles with money and parenting. Most of the women do not have jobs but are extremely wealthy through their husband. All the women are gorgeous, and for most of them some part of them is fake. Plastic surgery is very common between the moms, they have to keep that figure! The show is full of gossip and drama between the group of women.

I can see how our culture is drawn to these moms. It shows the struggles and hardships mothers go through but it also shows the life of luxury. They have real problems and we watch them work through them. But because of their emense wealth, their reality of motherhood is very different from what the average middle class woman goes through. Most mothers today do not have nannies or can take their children on amazing trips all of the time. The “real housewives” provide a peak into the life of money for the viewers.

The women on the show have become famous from these reality shows. Their gossip and drama flows from the show on to tabloids and magazines. This makes me think of Redmond and Gamson. Redmond’s vision regime, how these women don’t really have privacy anymore. Their private life is out for public viewing. Rather than a movie star who plays fictional characters and then has a separate private life, these women exploit their personal lives on their show as well as in the streets. This brings in Gamson’s story of the two different ways to be famous. One by having talent and working your way up and the other by manufacturing it and being publicized. These women were manufactured by Bravo to add more reality drama.

Their lifesytles are also a kind of fantasy for average population to watch. Watching perfectly put together women go shopping and plan social events put a glossy cover the real struggles of parenting. It steps away from what you would think a housewife should be doing and shows the reality of how rich moms live. Our culture today enjoys entertainment that exploits "famous" people's private lives.