I don't usually watch reality television, but I never miss a PBS reality show. There's been 1800's House, 1940's House, Manor House (BBC productions, I think) and Colonial House and currently playing is Texas Ranch House (American PBS productions). I tend to like the BBC productions better, but I enjoy all of them because they don't play games and vote people off and there is no money to be won. Participants do it for the experience of what it was like to live in a particular time in history. People do get kicked off or leave, but usually because they get sick, or fired from their job on the show, or family emergencies.
A common theme among all of these Houses is the gender inequality and how hard it is for 21st century women to adhere to the rules of the day. I would like to think that if I were on any of the shows, I'd play the part. I'd do the cleaning and cooking and crap without acknowledgement or say in what goes on in the household. Because that is what women had to do. It sucked. I would go into the project know it was gonna suck big time. Though, to be totally honest, I'm not sure how I'd handle 3 months of it. But it just drives me nuts watching most of the women on these shows. They complain about how the men don't care about what they think and the fact they are intelligent 21st century women and shouldn't be treated like 19th century women. Uh... but you're pretending to be in the 19th century!!!
For example, in Texas Ranch House the women want a say in the ranching business and want to be cowboys. And the Rancher's wife asks, "Why do the cowboys get what they want?" Uh, well, if there were no cowboys, you wouldn't have a ranch. THEN they complain that the men aren't helping them enough. (Though it is true that the guys on the show aren't minding their manners when it comes to helping ladies. Sometimes they just stand and watch the girls struggle with putting calves and goats back in their pens.)
And it really doesn't help that the Ranch owner is thinking like a 21st century man where women are equal(er). It just makes him look ball-less when he goes to ask his wife for permission for everything. I mean, it's good and right to get the opinion of whoever your right hand man or woman is, but when it's do or die, you have to make the decision on your own sometimes. However, there was a situation where he should have talked to someone because he clearly didn't understand what was at stake. See, he has the 21st century idea of "you don't bargain with 'terrorists'". But, for the love of god man, if a Comanche warrior wants to trade you some cows for one of your cowboys that he kidnapped, you don't BARGAIN!! I guess I just don't like the Ranch owner one way or the other.
So, how would I handle it? I remember in the 5th grade we had a class discussion about gender roles in some era, I don't recall. Maybe colonial. My social studies teacher commented that he could see one girl in my class, an alpha type personality, being very outspoken and challenging the rules and conventions of the day regarding women's rights and rights to be heard. But then he cracked this sly sort of smile and looked at me and said, "But Aileen on the other hand, would be obedient and follow the rules - out in public. But ooh, you just KNOW she'd let her husband know what's what once he got home".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment