Oh Lawd - Not Another One

If you follow me on Twitter, then you know I love and I mean love my TV shows.  I watch them all -- game shows, dramas, news, reality shows, documentaries, and I even still record a soap opera (about time Phyllis left Nick).  You name it I'm pretty sure I've tried at least one episode.   But there is one genre I absolutely cannot stand -- reality dating shows.

The popular and the most recent include The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, What Chilli Wants, Omarosa's Ultimate Merger, and our newest entrant - Chad Ochocinco's The Ultimate Catch.  True to Gamma's nature, I watched my first (and last) episode of The Ultimate Catch last night.

I find these shows awfully demeaning, especially when there's a group of women willing to forget every lesson their mamma ever taught 'em to "win" the #1 spot with a guy.  It bothers me when I see men doing it as well, but it really hurts to see women in that "I'll lose every drop of my self-respect and dignity to be with you" role.  Maybe it's because I see so many young women doing it in real life.  Maybe it's because I think the premise is just downright unrealistic.  It's hard enough to develop a strong relationship without the intrusion of the TV cameras, and there's nothing in me that believes a lasting relationship can be "won" on a reality show.  Maybe it's because these shows emphasize how much we're willing to do for a buck and 15 minutes of fame.  Naw, I'm going to stick with option one -- too many young women are sacrificing their dignity in real life for the pleasure of saying they "have a man".    

I'm all for my hot mess in TV shows (doesn't Real Housewives of DC start soon?) but let's draw the limit somewhere.  I keep my rose colored glasses on the tip of my nose (like Whoopi wears her glasses on The View).  There's just enough color remaining to keep my belief in real love in tact and that my granddaughter won't grow up and think acting a fool on TV and allowing a man to "grade" her against other women is her only path to love.

So why are the other hot mess shows acceptable to me?  Well, truthfully, they're not but they're so dang entertaining.  Besides, I like to think I can counteract all that mess with the lesson's I've taught my daughter about being a lady and hoping she passes it down to her daughter. Plus, we don't usually see a group of "housewives" acting the way the Housewives Series behave.  Unfortunately, we do see young teenage girls engaging in totally unladylike behavior to "get" and "keep their man" -- it's just too much.  I'm not so naive to suggest that these shows are the sole reason for the behavior of young women these days, but it sure doesn't help.  Let's stick with racing around the world, living on a deserted island, and eating slop and let's ease up on the whorish behavior to "win your man". 

Now let me turn into Real Housewives of NJ.