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How Can the Housewives Franchise Be Feminist?

Many people have stated their dismay for the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo. Their issue is that the franchise only shows women being pinned against each other and backstabbing each other over champagne and diamonds. Which is the bate of the show, the way the producers capture the attention of their audience. But that may be true, which I will get into later, but that is only surface deep. These shows are not just about fabulous fashion, having kids, and fighting with your best friend. These shows are about women in power. Most of these ladies are not 1950′s housewives. And many of these ladies do not have husbands or children. But many of these ladies have successful businesses they had before joining the show or while being on the show. I have been a fan for years and have always been giving negative feedback for claiming myself as a feminist and being a supporter of such “garbage.” Do not get me wrong, I am not comparing the franchise to the works of Susan B. Anthony or Gloria Steinem but I do believe the feminist movement has changed. The term feminism, in its purest, means equality. And boy do these women fight for equality. And that is the world we live in. We may want to think that we as women, and men, must come together pull each other up and run together in a field of daisies. But that is not the real world. People fight over petty issues every day, whether women or men. People backstab, whether women or men.  Of course, this is reality TV so everything is pushed to the extreme. But this show is not only about the negative but also the positives. 

I was inspired to do this post based on two different blog post I read about this top. One for my claim and one against. In Allie Gemmill’s blog, 9 Ways Real Housewives Is Actually Super Feminist, she states some ways that the Housewives franchise is part of the feminist movement, which I can see her point but are a bit superficial. For example, she states that women on the show are able to be sexual and gross, which is good but there are other deeper reasons why the show is part of the movement. The second blog, Women Everywhere vs Andy Cohen, post by Laurel argues that the franchise sets back women 100 years stating “What does this mean for women? Stereotype, embarrassment, and bad role-modeling are a few that come to mind”. As a fan, I did not want to support these two viewpoints because they do not support my claim that the franchise is a part of the feminist movement. There are several positive rooted reasons why the franchise is feminist. And of course, I can not post about this issue without stating the obvious that Laurel addresses in her blog. 

The ongoing act of self-documentation in a world that punishes female experience (that doesn’t aspire to maleness) is a radical declaration that women are within our rights to contribute to the story of what it means to be human.

-- Alana Massey

The purpose of this post isn’t to change the haters mind but possible just see my point of view. I read a blog post by Ana Dorn where she states “The Real Housewives doesn’t have the intellectual heft of, say, a documentary feature on particle science or the ills of the criminal justice system, but it’s no less intelligent than shows viewers readily admit to loving without guilt, such as Westworld or The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. She later argues that the show has empowered several women that did not have a voice amongst their peers or even amongst their own husband. For many of these women, the show has given them a voice. 

Here I will list a few reasons why I feel that the housewives franchise is part of the 21st-century movement of feminism. 

1. They Do Not Rely On Men  

A false claim about these shows is that these women became successful because of their husband’s money and rely on being with a man. There is some truth through these claims but not the full story. First, not all of the housewives rely on their husband's money. For example, D’ Andra Simmons is the multi-million dollar breadwinner in her marriage. Second, a good percentage of these cast members were not married when they joined the show like Carol Radziwill who was a successful reporter for NBC before she met her husband who passed away from cancer. Third, as the divorce rate rises in the US, housewives to fall victim to the epidemic. And even though they do face tough sad times like anyone else, they manage to become more successful and independent on their own like Nene Leaks who after her divorce had multiple roles in hit TV shows. These women show the rest of the world that they do not need a man to be successful, that even in tough times, you can be successful on your own.

A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.

-Gloria Steinem

2. Bad Behavior Is Punished

To some, this may seem like an oxymoron since they believe the whole show is women behaving badly, but that is false. The great thing about the Housewives franchise is how much they listen to their audience. The audience becomes the moral compass of the show and lets the producers know via tweeter, blog post, or emails what they feel as acceptable. And thankfully a higher percentage of the US population has a high moral compass. When a castmember violates what the audience feels as morally acceptable, the franchise will fire them. For example, in the Real Housewives of Atlanta Phaedra Parks falsely claimed that another cast member, Kandi Burruss, of wanting to drug and rape Porsha Williams. The audience quickly reacted and producers fired Parks. This is an example of punishment. This shows the cast members and the rest of the population what is socially acceptable and the consequences of one's actions. Another example is when Teresa Giudice, a cast member from the Real Housewives of New Jersey, faced time in prison for tax fraud. Even though these women had fame and money does not mean they are above the law or above what is socially acceptable. There are consequences to your action. So the franchise does not glorify bad behavior. 

‘Housewives universe,’ you get punished for behaving badly. There are consequences to it.”

-Andy Cohen

3. The Franchise Has Launched Several Succesful Business Women 

There is no way I can talk about successful business women in the housewives franchise without mentioning the most successful housewife of all, Bethenny Frankel. When Frankel first joining the Housewives she was labeled the “underdog” of her cast. Even though she was not poor at all, a successful celebrity chef in New York City, among her Park Avenue old money cast members she was. Through the show, she was able to come up with the Skinny Girl Margarita and through the show, she was able to get connections to promote and patten her drink. She established her Skinny Girl company and in 2011 sold her company for 100 million dollars. Through her company’s great financial gain she has been able to start her nonprofit BStrong that helps crises around the world. For example, BStrong was the first rescue organization to hit the ground running in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, even before the US. Through the show, she was able to be a successful businesswoman without any help from a man. She was able to achieve a great amount of money and also help others. And her whole story is shown on the show. Her story inspires other women and promotes awareness. 

“It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks of your life. All that matters is what you think of it, and what you decide to make of it.” 

-Bethenny Frankel

I hope that I have changed your view a little bit or a lot about about the postive influence that the Housewives franchise has on the current feminist movement. If not a least you could see some postives of the show. If anything people who watch the show, like myself, understand that it is reality TV. And the audience knows that reality TV scripted and just for entraiment. 

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