Say Yes to the Dress

Say yes!

Growing up as a child the idea of marriage was always out there. I mean the shows I watched as a child centered around marriage. I would one day get married. I needed to know what I would wear. I mean really girls didn't even have a man in mind but how they would look during this day was extremely important. Prince charming would come later. Say Yes to the Dress only increases these thoughts. 

In this brides profession her beauty is what providers her with funds. She states, "The sexier you looked the more money you made. I want to change this image. I want to look like a princess" The idea that if you are sexy you cannot be a princess. So if your looks do not match the stereotypical image you must alter your appearance to become a princess. The word princess was mentioned around six times. Why must women feel the pressure to look like a princess on their wedding day?

The cult of domesticity laid out the foundation for women and their wedding day. The idea that the happiest day of your life is when you get married. So how do women capture the best wedding day. Well the themselves must look perfect, there venue needs to be top notch, and they need the man of their dreams. Women spend thousands of dollars alone on the dress. This dress that will be worn once. 

 The wedding ceremony itself still treats women as if they are a an object. First of fathers hand off their daughters to their future husbands. The father must give his daughter away. The daughter at the end of the ceremony, the bride typically has a new last name. Has any of these ideas differed from the 1800- 1900s? 

I found this wonderful gem of accident. This is a political campaign commercial in Say Yes to the Dress format. Is it just me or did Rick Scott feel the need to dumb down this commercial so that women can understand? Women are capable of understanding more than just a wedding dress. 

Sister Wives

Sister Wives

In the show sister wives, Cody and his four wives document their life. There are a few things that has demonstrate the stereotypical man role and female role. First Kody is described to handle the difficult children he is the one to discipline. When dad comes home you’re in trouble attitude. Similar to colonial women, when the men came home from hard day’s work the children better be on their best behavior. When the children are not; it is up to dad to take charge. 

 He is allowed to have multiple partners whereas the women must be faithful to only Kody. Also there are three women who have no legal attachment to Kody. They do not have legal rights and cannot make legal actions. However each woman shares his last name. Each woman has her own home. Kody move throughout the week to each wives home. Therefor when it’s their day with Kody all his centered toward him.

In general women of polygamy must hide their lives from the public. Most do this in fear that their children will be taken away and that they will be arrested. Women must remain quiet and hide their relationship. This gives women little chance to They also mention how women in polygamist families normally hide. The women are to hide their relationship with the women so that there is no speculation. This then places women in a life of fear with no outlet. They are stuck in their own sphere taking care of the children. Janelle differs from the other woman for one reason. Instead of working inside the home she had a career outside. Nevertheless she had to drop her career to follow Kody and his wives out of state. 

 

Another interesting observation on the show is the symbol itself.  After the opening credit you see a quick image of five rings. Kody's ring is the strength and holding all of his wives rings bunched together. If they are in fact all equal shouldn't the symbol replicate a chain of some sort with each intertwined together. Does this demonstrate the males role versus the females role? Is the man the one in charge and the women hang below?

Kristine herself speaks about the idea of marriage. She talks about the pay off and the perfect marriage. The same ideals she was told about as a young girl the promises she was made. She comes to the realization that marriage is not perfect. It is apparent that Kody is in charge of the family unit.

Similar views are shared between the Duggar and Brown family. For instant similar dating rules still apply. The idea that kissing, and hand holding will result in bad decisions as well as broken hearts. Kody has the "man talk" with his daughter potential boyfriend. I mean look at Kody in the first seconds of this video. Dad's home he needs to relax no one bother him! 

Real Housewives?

REAL HOUSEWIVES 

Alright let us begin. Real Housewives for those who have not seen it, the premise of this show is to document the lives of your typical housewife. So how is housewife defined in the dictionary? According to the dictionary a housewife is defined as, “A married woman whose main occupation is caring for her family, managing household affairs, and doing housework.” Also the term housewife really originates from the cult of domesticity. The idea that women were to stay at home and serve their husbands and children. On their show the men work and the women stay home. They have a click of friends who become the real housewives. On the show we see drama and fights which usually contain alcohol. So why do these informative women get into these altercations. Why do they cause drama between one another? 

Well the answer to this is power. Did you know back in the colonial days puritan women; who were women that were part of the first setters of a religious group. The women involved were given typical gender roles as a housewife who were allowed to leave her sphere for church. This was the only way women could get out and talk to others outside of their family. These women were truly bound to this life. They couldn’t stand out from their peers they were married or they were seen a witches. Well these women realized something. That they could hold power over women. Similar to the housewives on the show they were involved in close-knit groups that’s gossip was considered valuable. By making accusations this was the only way women’s voices could be heard.

 Uh interesting women can only be heard if their starting drama.  This is still happening today. We pay attention to women like the Real Housewives because we want to know Becky’s little secret. Shouldn’t we be more concerned with real issues? Are once again we becoming distracted over things like this? Women have more power than having secrets over one another. I will be going over more ideas with the next show. Stay tuned.

Also take a look at the way women are being received. They think that they hold power from lies but in reality they are only considered a joke.

 

Some of the drama the women create on the television. Is this informing our youth to treat women like objects to contain power over...

But seriously though...

Come on women lets be more than drama let real things be told!

Women’s portrayal in Television: The Reflection of History

Women’s portrayal in Reality Television: How I See Myself and What History has Taught Me.

The media teaches women (like me) to base their self-worth solely on appearance. They tell us constantly that to be successful you must be pretty. To be happy you must find man. Reality TV only reassures these ideas. What it pretty and who defines it? Why must we be so focused on beauty? Can women be seen more than just a pretty face? As a child I feel victim to this idea. I still fall victim to this theme! How do you I get trapped? Well I love reality TV.  Although most of reality TV is not based on actual reality. I find myself comparing my life to these women. I do not know them personally but I see them as something to compare myself to. Who are these women that we look to for guidance? I will be going over numerous television programs on today and describing them for what the teach women. I realized that women can be more than how they are shown on television. There is more to women than meets the eye. We just do not see because we are too consumed with the false reality.