Bad Girls Club

The Bad Girls Club is a show on Oxygen that I always see the commercial for. I always found it rather pointless but decided to watch it for this Reality TV show assignment. This show is about some bad ass women, well at least they think that they are, who live in a big house together. I watched the first two episodes On Demand from last season (I hope it's still acceptable). After spending nearly two hours of my life watching this show, I realized how perfect the show is to analyze. Every part of it exposes how society-created gender shapes every action and attitude of each of the woman. There are 8 women in the house, Tiffany, Amber M., Amber B., Kayla, Whitney, Ailea, Sarah and Whitney. Boy do they have some wild personalities.

First, the girls are given a job. They all go to a lingerie shop on Hollywood Blvd. Their task is to pick out the outfit the feel most comfortable in, strut their stuff down the boulevard to bring in customers. Whoever brought in the most people would win, I think $300. All of them tried hard at first, cat-calling men, fluttering their eyelashes, offering free lap dances, objectifying themselves to everyone, including couples, just to make a few hundred bucks. The winner was Amber M. because she would not give up, run up to people, pull off the innocent look, and drag them into the store. If I was in their position, I honestly would have done the same thing because I need the money. But watching it disgusted me. These women are supposed to be bad girls but they just looked so desperate. A lot of men didn't pay mind to them, which I found odd. I figured that maybe it was the cameras that shunned them.

Now, we have the character Kayla. She is a model-looking African-American woman who despises the other African American, Tiffany, at first glance. The reason behind her feelings is that Tiffany has a lighter complexion than she. Kayla defends herself by saying how her ex-boyfriend loves "light-skinned" women. Kayla's current complexion is lighter than it should be because she has gone out of her way to look lighter for her boyfriend. Complexion is her sole reason for disliking Tiffany and she admits to it with no shame. Through the expression of Kayla's emotion, she shows the audience how her "strong woman" personality, which she constantly must point out, is a facade. Although she came out as a tough girl, confronting an innocent stranger, I looked past it and knew that she is just intimidated by Tiffany. During her confession to Tiffany, her low self-esteem is accentuated. She's not even with this guy anymore and she's still ready to pounce on a light-skinned female! I found it insane how just seeing a stranger with a lighter complexion sparked such hatred in a person.

Another instance in which the concept of gender was evident was when the character Whitney aka Boston receives the news of a friend passing away. She refuses to cry or "show any sign of weakness" to the other girls. Instead, they all go out and she gets wasted. In class and in regular everyday discussion, the most common said difference between men and women is that they are "weaker" and/or "too emotional". I'm assuming that that is the reason why Boston held back her feelings. Eventually she cries, after the other ladies begged her to and after a lot of drinking. From experience, I think she'll probably forget what happened the next day and wake up with a terrible headache and/or vomiting. I've heard it is not good to suppress emotions. Family Guy subliminally suggests that it causes tumors. I have an aunt that passed away from a tumor (she denied the fact that her husband beat her all the time). Watching the show, it's obvious Boston wanted to vent about her emotions but did not know how. She felt the need to keep her bad girl attitude and prove that big girls don't cry.

The last part of the show I will mention is when Kayla and Amber M. had their own altercation. The day after Kayla was ready to fight to defend Amber M., they went out to eat with Amber B. Kayla unwillingly added $2 to the tip and that is where it all began. Amber M. keeps rambling on and on in the car about the situation, where Kayla is yelling to just drop it. Amber M. wouldn't so Kayla hit Amber M.'s arm. (Very funny to watch). Amber B., the driver, pulled into a gas station and the other two jumped out and started swinging and kicking. Their ending position was half in the car, Kayla pulling Amber M.'s hair while Amber M. was choking Kayla. I was wondering the entire time, are they really fighting over $2? Kayla was yelling saying she would kill Amber M. Amber M. was getting everyone else on her side by denying her instigation. This part portrays women as overreacting and conniving animals. The matter was so petty but they were ready to kill each other.

There were plenty more instances but I figured these covered a lot of ground. I realized that these self-proclaimed bad girls are just bluffers, not very good ones. They all spend so much time getting ready to go out, picking outfits, putting on make-up. I'm very disappointed in Oxygen for airing this show. I thought Oxygen was a channel for women who are comfortable with themselves. I'm assuming the projected audience for this particular show are for both males and females. What messages are they sending? Why this show that projects insecurity, hatred, and constant objectification? These females are not ugly and aside from all of their fights, they always go out and have a good time. I had so many mixed emotions after viewing this. I want to have an easy-going life like theirs during the show, but I hated their personalities and attitudes. I was disgusted at some of the things they did, but reminisced on similar situations that I have been in. Finishing up this assignment, I'm left more confused than ever.