Misogyny and Reality TV

I'll admit it. They say it's the first step. I'm addicted to reality TV. No, I'm not as hardcore as others. I do draw the line at Honey Boo Boo and Jersey Shore. My preference is competition shows, mostly those involving talent and/or skill. I get my guilty pleasure kick by watching the Bachelor/ Bachelorette /Bachelor Pad franchise shows. Who doesn't like a good hot mess?

Reality TV is escapist, sometimes heart-warming, entertainment at best; but on the flip side it can uncover some unsavory aspects of North American society. I will also admit that there have been occasions where these shows have made me cry, laugh out loud at some absurdity or the other, and get pissed off to no end. Not necessarily at the people on these shows. They're all trying to get ahead in some way or the other, but at the way we see people and their place in the world.

To be more blunt. Reality TV has become a hot bed of misogyny in the way women are portrayed but worse, in the way they are received. Here are some stats to think about:

• Out of 11 seasons of American Idol, 7 of them were won by men.
• Out of 14 seasons of Big Brother, 9 of them were won by men. A woman has never won against a man.
• Survivor is a evenly split, despite the fact that its host and now producer refuses to give the female players any credit. Out of 24 seasons, half of them were won by men.
• Out of 14 seasons of Dancing with the Stars, 10 of them were won by men.
• In 3 seasons of Top Chef Masters, only men won.
• In both seasons of The Voice, men won (and that includes the mentors).
• Both seasons of The Glee Project were won by men.
• The first season of The Glass House was won by a man even though there were also 2 women in the finale.

In other words, women have much fewer chances of winning these shows, whether the winners are chosen by the voting public, judges or fellow contestants. Are these results based on who played a better game or whose skill level is more developed? Not really. It's more of a reflection of gender-based stereotypes that are so ingrained in our way of thinking, subverted into the way we react to men and women in competitions and positions of power.

Women who are as proactive as men in their careers are not ambitious. They are aggressive. Women who assert themselves in positions of power and influence are not strong; they are bitches. Women are criticized for their appearance even in the middle of important peace-keeping negotiations, or campaigns to right injustices. They are judged because they aren't wearing lip-gloss or they've put on some weight. Men can look frumpy and disheveled but it doesn't matter if they are leading a multi-billion dollar corporation.

And before you call me a man-hater (I like men a LOT!), men are often not the source of this misogyny. Surprisingly, disappointingly, infuriatingly, alarmingly, women are. In fact, based on my first-hand observations in fan communities of some of these reality TV shows, it is the female contestants who are frequently, if not solely, the recipients of hatred, wrath and ridicule, coming predominantly from female viewers and female participants.

That's the reality of this situation. We might be living in countries that tout gender, racial or cultural equality (those will be the subject of another day), but until that translates into the reality of life, we have a long way to go.

Stay tuned! :)

Survivor Philippines: The Tribe of Failure

It's difficult making cast assessments based on one episode of a show, one that is heavily edited to portray certain people in stereotypical roles, fitting stereotypical "story lines"; but here goes, as I hack my way through the jungle of editing to find the nuggets of possible truth.

It doesn't take a medium to predict that the Matsing Tribe is going to be tanking early. This is mostly due to the fact that their un-leader, leader who doesn't want to lead but does anyway, Russell Swan can't assess his tribe's abilities and their inability to tell him to go take a long hike on the beach. Now, he's probably a perfectly nice guy, one who made a huge mistake, admitting to it in Tribal Council, but something tells me he won't be able to help himself.

He's lucky. Zane Knight, who went out in a huge ball of fail by underplaying, underlasting, and undersmarting everyone, saved Russ' Survivor life this week. I don't know how many times I need to say this but I will again. Future reality contestants: if you want to play the BIG game, trying to make BIG moves while congratulating yourself about your own GENIUS, you better back it up with two things: a killer ability to save yourself in challenges, and zipped lips. These were the exact two qualities that Zane did not have, therefore earning him the distinction of being the first voted off.

Russ will probably continue for at least another week of life in the game because of two other tribe mates: Roxanne "Roxy" Morris and Angie Layton who risked losing their eyeballs with all the rolling they did at Tribal Council. They tried to pin their predicament on Russ, but he does not carry the sole blame. Instead of standing up to Russ before the immunity challenge, asserting themselves and their abilities, they "stood down" to his non-authority, authority, obeying his directives. His bright idea? Get the one guy on the tribe whose physicality ensured failure to do the running with him.

This tribe seems to have only two possibilities of making it to the merge: Denise Stapley and Malcolm Freberg. They were smart enough to seek each other out as the only two with the brains and strategy in the tribe. This, with their ability to make it through the physical challenges, will give them the best chances of getting out of this cluster of a tribe intact.

With this tribe's state of disarray and dismal un-leadership, Matsing stands a great chance of losing yet another immunity challenge next week and one of Roxy or Angie being sent packing. Russ will probably find the immunity idol because he stumbled on the clue, unlike Penner who found it with purpose. Even with this coveted idol, I doubt Russ's chances of making it to the merge are good. He'll probably not use it or give it away by accident.

These are just my assessments from watching the show. If you want real insider info, then get it from the one, true source of spoilers: Missyae.

Stay tuned for the upcoming blogs:

• My assessment of the singing competitions: The Voice, X-Factor and the newly rehashed American Idol. Why is this show still on?
• Misogyny and Reality TV
• Skill, Luck, Production and the Mighty Buck

Survivor Philippines versus Big Brother 14

Both of these CBS reality TV shows packed a wallop last night with one premiering as the other ended. In the ratings department, the 25th season  of  Survivor topped 11 million viewers with a 7.1, whereas Big Brother, fell short of 7 million with a 2.9 rating. This is not surprising as the latter show's ratings have been disappointing this summer. Yet, despite Survivor being the ratings winner, it has not been renewed past the already filmed season 26 yet, whereas Big Brother has been renewed for season 15.

Both these shows have been in peril with tanking ratings in the past mostly because of the producers (Jeff Probst for Survivor and Allison Grodner for Big Brother). They both adopted a formula of bringing vets (sometimes multiple times) to play with newbies season after season, even though the fans of both the shows have not liked it. It's not fun to watch inexperienced players get mowed down season after season.

But maybe things are not so dire for these shows. The fact that Survivor's premiere numbers are much better than in the past, and that Big Brother 14 ended with a newbie gaining victory over a vet will bring some needed changes in both these shows. While Ian Terry, a fan favorite who charmed almost everyone with his unique personality and heart, won BB14 by a landslide mostly because the jurors respected his smart, clean game, a few Survivors made impressive appearances in the Survivor premiere.

Jonathan Penner, Sarah Naomi Dawson from Kalabaw, Denise Marie Stapely, Malcolm Freberg and Angie Layton from Masting, as well as Micheal, Skupin, Lisa Whechel and Roberta "RC" Saint-Amour from Tandang were six castaways that showed much promise. Penner's love of the game and gratitude to be given another chance were touching to watch; but his strategizing on the island and even before he arrived is what made me sit up and take notice. Michael Skupin is another returning player to watch. His strategy is to take a back seat, going with the flow while poised to make a move. From the new castaways: RC, Stapely, Freberg, Layton and Dawson have made the most positive first impact, some showing prowess in the challenges, others a necessary insight into the others' game play/personalities and others both.

Will this help them to get to the end? We will see. One thing's for sure, this Survivor cast is one of the best, smartest and most compelling in a few seasons, making it a must-see show, one whose ratings will hopefully earn it a renewal.