White, Western and Rich

I have been thinking about this, and spewing in my brain for awhile, but I am disgusted that so many TV shows glorify the things "we" criticize. Sure. I'm talking about the privileged cable shows that I pay for. By "we", I mean middle/upper class white people. Am I from that background? You betcha. Was I raised to be critical of stereotypes of any kind? You betcha.

I admit, I have never watched the TLC shows I refer to...

Jon and Kate Plus 8. I really don't give a crap about them as people and I have never seen the show. but TLC picked up on a vibe, or created it, about families that have 8 kids. And they got a big house and wardrobe and vacations and we read about them in magazines-well the mom and dad. What about the 8? What's going on with them? With their show canceled, who will pay for their clothes and food? What about 18 Children and Counting? Who are these people? Well, they're white and Christian. Thank God.

Hmm, but lemme think about this. We haven't heard about it as mainstream discussion since Reagan, but remember how awful "those" girls are that have all those babies? I mean, they are SO irresponsible. Just in class the other day, someone brought up the court mandated birth control to make sure women who couldn't afford it couldn't have kids. Did Jon and Kate have the funds? Is the TV show the way to pay for it? What African American single mother with children has a dedicated show? Do Jon or Kate have a job? OK, we did not give the Octamom any slack...

Meanwhile, we watch a show like Man vs. Food in the US. Each episode, the host eats exorbitant amounts of food. Tonight, I watched him eat 1.5 lbs. of meat and bread and 6 lbs. of milkshake. This show repeats again and again. People are cheering him on to finish his meals in under an hour. Do you know many people would dream of 7 lbs. of food intake in a week, a month? Disgusting. Do I eat more than the rest of the world? Yes, but this is gluttony and I'm not all about the 7 deadly sins and all that hooey.

Finally, I have been watching the cooking shows. I admit, I think they're fun. I think generally chefs are pretty lefty and open minded, but let's face it...it's gluttonous. How wonderful that you have $2000 for "this one meal challenge" that would feed a village or two this month.

Yeah, so how much money do I pay for cable to watch (or have the ability to watch) these shows? Enough to feed a village for a week or more...

When I travel, I try to downplay my Americanness because of stuff like this, but the truth is, I am from privilege compared to the world, I was born in a good place to be a woman. I'm not all about guilt, but we as a society are walking a fine line between what we criticize in others and what we glorify in ourselves.