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Black women and reality TV

Last night, millions of viewers tuned in to watch VH1’s reality-TV show Basketball Wives. While it has been a ratings bonanza for the network, the show and others like it continue to face heavy criticism for their portrayal of black women.

In an article, Newsweek reporter Allison Samuels writes:

“The mud-slinging makes for watchable TV, but it also highlights an unsettling new formula for the reality-TV genre: put two or more headstrong African-American women in the same room, and let the fireworks begin. From Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club to Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, the small screen is awash with black females who roll their eyes, bob their heads, snap their fingers, talk trash, and otherwise reinforce the ugly stereotype of the ‘angry black woman.’ Take VH1’s Basketball Wives and Love & Hip Hop, which feature the scorned ex-wives and baby mamas of rich NBA stars and rappers. No episode is complete without a bitchy confrontation or a threat to do bodily harm.”

Many say they are so embarrassed by the portrayals of black women on TV, particularly on reality-TV, that they have decided to tune-out.

Legendary actresses Diahann Carroll and Phylicia Rashard reportedly will not watch them. Carroll has called them disgraceful, but the actress is no stranger to a little TV catfight herself (see video).

Video of Carroll on Dynasty

As last night’s episode of “Basketball Wives” aired, jewelry designer Shauna Neely took to Twitter to express her disapproval. She tweeted, “Looking 4ward to the day when reality TV steered towards my demographic does NOT involve a negative depiction of women.. #basektbalwives [sic].”

The question is do shows aimed at “her demographic” portray women any differently than any other reality-TV show?

In her mini-rant on Twitter last night, Neely also said these shows fail to depict reality.

She Tweeted, “I have several girlfriends that are REAL basketball wives & they are NOT all like what we see on TV they #resideonthehighroad #honest log [sic].”

In fact, most if not all reality-TV shows show an exaggerated reality with over the top characters in heavily edited situations. That’s the nature of the beast. Black women are not the only ones who feel they have been depicted poorly.

VH1’s popular series Mob Wives features a group of head-strong women with ties to mob men in prison. None of these women are black, and they pull hair, wring necks, cuss and brawl. The show has many Italian Americans concerned about their portrayal on TV.

Mob Wives video

And white women don’t exactly get a pass either. They also are often portrayed as gold-digging, ditzy and promiscuous in reality television. The majority of Bravo’s Real Housewives shows consist of all-Caucasian casts, and there is no shortage of drama from cattiness to allegations of alcoholism and parental neglect. MTV’s Real World also features predominantly white casts, and some will argue that they too are shown in an unflattering way for many of the reasons mentioned above.

Holly Robinson Peete summed up the difference in her opinion, telling Samuels, “There are plenty of white women acting a fool on television every night, but there’s a balance for them. They have shows on the major networks—not just cable and not just reality shows—about them running companies, being great mothers, and having loving relationships. We don’t have enough of that.”

Still, some will disagree, arguing there are positive images of women of color on reality shows like Laurieann Gibson’s The Dance Crew and Kimora Lee Simmons on Life in the Fab Lane. Some also believe that BET’s Tiny & Toya showed a positive depiction of black women.

*** QUESTION: Do you tune in to reality TV or are you too embarrassed by the depiction of black women? Do you believe that black women are portrayed any differently than other women on reality-TV shows? The comment section awaits your answers. 

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