Real Housewives

I understand that reality television has to have some sort of "hook" to get you, the viewer, interested enough to stick around. For the most part, that's usually drama. Even when shows are about parenting, it’s not the day-to-day rhythm that gets airtime, but rather the sensational, unbelievable, and usually questionable parenting decisions that take center stage.

So...is that really the "reality" of parenting?

A very special thank you to the Countess LuAnn of the Real Housewives of New York for supplying the title to today’s post.  I doubt this is what the Countess was going for, but she brings up a good point: what’s the difference between having money and having class privilege?  Is there one anymore?

I'm not one to guilt anyone for caring for lowbrow culture, not least because for so many years my bookish university friends made fun of me for watching television at all. (I've felt no small degree of satisfaction that The Sopranos, The Wire, and now Mad Men have had them eating their words more recently.) But every time I've tuned into any version of Bravo's Real Housewives franchise this year, I've had to fend off a sinking feeling that I've hit the rock bottom of my guilty pleasures.

Read on for 5 things I don't want to read about anymore:

Did you watch the preview of the Real Housewives of New Jersey yet? Five women, three of whom are related by blood, marriage, or both, and all of whom are implied to have possible mob connections (or at least mob pretentions). One of them, Dina, is married to the younger brother of her sister's husband, and works in the combined family's event planning business. Dina spends most of the RHONJ preview episode telling everyone how rich she is, how unpleasant she is to work for, and terrorizing her assistants and family, all of whom "affectionately" refer to her as a bitch. Dina's response: "If you think I'm a bitch, then bring it on." Intriguing, right? Click through if you want to hear about Dina's previous reality TV gig!

This week in reality TV girlfights... Hello! I'm the new reality TV blogger for Bitch! Please be warned in advance, these posts won't be terribly deep. Also, there are some spoilers.

Just me, or has this week on reality TV just basically been women arguing with each other? A terrible affront to feminists everywhere, or the very reason why reality TV was invented in the first place???? We're ranking 'em (on a scale of 1 to 5 doorslams), here!