Reality television is quick to claim that they have diverse casts, interesting concepts, and unique themes on their shows. While this is mostly true, there is an aspect of reality television that needs to be discussed: how women are portrayed and accepted versus men.
It just so happens that a wonderful example of the difference between the way men and women are portrayed is within the reality television show Big Brother, currently airing its eighteenth season. In short, the show is about a group of people locked inside a house for the entirety of summer and every week, one of them is voted out of the house. Interesting right? Well, Big Brother loves to boast about its colorful cast and wacky challenges, but there are some interesting statistics about this show.
To start, a woman has never beat a man in the final 2. A woman has only won when they've gone against another woman and out of the 17 winners, only 5 are female. This is interesting, as in order to reach the end, you need to be somewhat physical, as well as strong socially and mentally. Since a woman has never won over a man, does this mean that the woman is less deserving for making the same game moves a man would make?
Well, essentially, in the eyes of viewers, that is true. When a man schemes on this show, they are seen as leaders. They are in charge of the game and are widely accepted when doing so. However, when a woman makes the same moves a man makes, they are seen as "bitchy" and unworthy of winning because they played a devious game. There is a certain stigma that surrounds female players, from both contestants and viewers, that these women need to stay poised at all times and remain composed, even though men are allowed to exhibit any kinds of emotions and say whatever they want.
A great example of this is in the current season, with contestants Natalie Negrotti, Paul Abrahamian, and Victor Arroyo. Natalie is this week's current HoH (Head of Household), meaning she has the duty of nominating two people for eviction, one of who will have to leave the house by the end of the week. Throughout the season, Natalie has been a fan favorite for long time and new fans alike, charting the top of popularity polls. She is a bubbly, happy girl who is enjoyable to watch. However, in past weeks, she hasn't had any form of power before and this is her first week in charge of the house, as earlier, she had been laying rather low in the background. Because of this, she wanted to make an impact on the game and make a big move. To do this, she chose to target Paul Abrahamian and Victor Arroyo, two men who have won several competitions throughout the season and one of which, Paul, who has been chosen by many viewers to be the likely winner of the season. Even though they were in an alliance, she promptly nominated both of them for eviction, fearing the fact that they would beat her in the end.
Since this decision, Natalie has received insults and admonishment from many viewers of the show for her decision. She has since plummeted on popularity polls and has people choosing to root for the men over her. While this is certainly their decision to make, it is an interesting choice at that. Throughout the season, Paul and Victor were known for not being particularly nice to the women in the house, with Paul specifically calling Natalie "FT" (Fake Titties) and both men generally being unpleasant to watch due to their treatment of the other female contestants. It was not until about last week, when James Huling, Natalie, and Michelle Meyer convinced them to join their side of the house over another side that fans started liking Paul and Victor despite their actions in the past.
The contrast between the treatment of men and female in the game is quite staggering, isn't it? A fan favorite female quickly becoming despised when she decides to make a game related move (regardless of how smart the move was for her to make) and two generally unlikable men quickly becoming fan favorites for aligning with a more popular side of the house. This speaks volumes for itself.
This says that we need to change the way that we view reality television. We have certain ideas of men and women in the real world, but those can't be applied to reality television. We end up stereotyping if we do this. We judge people based on the way we judge people in real life, so what is that implying? That we condemn women the second the step out of line, but praise men when they finally do something good? That needs to change. Women and men should both be held to the same standard, in the game of Big Brother, and in the game of life.
