A Postfeminist Critique of Bravo's The Real Housewives

Abstract

Bravo’s The Real Housewives is considered to be one of the most popular reality shows in television history. However, the series has faced some extreme backlash and criticism for its sexist and misogynistic portrayals of women on screen. Instead of looking at The Real Housewives as either anti-feminist or feminist, this paper offers an alternative solution, that is examining the franchise through a postfeminist framework. In her research, Rosalind Gill proposes a list of specific characteristics that makes a text postfeminist, and I analyze the various different ways in which The Real Housewives adopt, internalize, and challenge these postfeminist themes. This essay also explores Judith Butler’s concept of performativity along the lines of gender, race, and class, which further perpetuates both regressive as well as progressive depictions of women to a predominantly female audience.