All the Housewives Shows!

The “Housewives” reality shows are so popular that more and more of them keep sprouting up. All of a sudden, everyone is interested in housewives. We’ve been around since the Stone Age. Our husbands still grunt when we ask them how their day was. We cook, we clean, we take care of the kids and the house. So what is the big deal? Why are housewives suddenly the big “trend” in television entertainment?

Maybe if you watch one of the shows, you will discover why they are so popular. You can chose from several shows that focus on the housewives of various cities in the US. “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” “Housewives of DC,” “Housewives of Atlanta,” “Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “The Real Housewives of New York,” “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” and so it goes. I’ll bet you didn’t know there were so many. There is even a series of shows on Dr. Phil called, “Dr. Phil Housewives!” Even our beloved Dr. Phil has jumped on the housewife band wagon.

I’ve watched a couple of episodes of the New Jersey and New York housewives. I am appalled that we are being “represented” by these women. I did not see anything that remotely resembled me or the housewives I know, and I am from New York. I saw a bunch of catty women, who like to dress up and wear heels and makeup, talk behind each other’s back, expose each other’s secrets, argue, insult, and ridicule each other. I didn’t see anyone washing dishes, doing laundry, making dinner, reading their children stories, vacuuming, or food shopping. Is this how we are perceived today?

I will admit that I am a huge fan of the Dr. Phil Housewives! Not because they are real housewives, because only two can be classified as real housewives. But I like the series because they are dealing with women’s issues that exist in today’s world. They expose themselves and their personal problems to all of us and we can see the affects of these problems on their behavior. We can see ourselves in these women’s vulnerability, their denial, their tears. Whoever thought of this idea on Dr. Phil’s staff deserves a raise and a promotion! Is there fighting and arguing on his show? Yes, they lash out at one another, usually the person who is most like them. But, unlike the catty fighting on the other housewives shows, these housewives reactions come from the years of pain they have experienced in their past. So I am hooked! I love to watch them every Tuesday. And because they interact with the viewing audience through Dr. Phil’s website and Facebook, we feel like we really know these women and we are investing ourselves in their journey to finding the answers to their problems.

Soon every city will have a housewives show, but they won’t be about “real” housewives. We need to all unite and speak up and demand a show about us, the down in the trenches housewives. The housewives that get up at 3 am to take care of sick kids not just getting home from some soiree; that go to PTA meetings instead of parties; that have to worry about paying bills, not making bills; that are lucky they have time to brush their hair, let alone their eyelashes; that shop at JCPenney, not Nordstrom’s.

I want a show about people like me and you! The ultimately real housewives, who gave up the good life to be wives and mothers, not television celebrities!