To me there are a lot of things wrong with this set up. It objectifies women making them sexual objects. This is similar to the article we read in class by Mulvey where she discusses the objectification of women by the male gaze. Men control the action while women are simply there for the pleasure of these men.
Along with The Millionaire Matchmaker perpetuating the role of women as sexual objects, it also reinforces the false notion that women are incompetent and need to be taken care of by a wealthy man. The goal of the club is to match men and women together to form, old-fashioned, traditional relationships where the women stays at home raising children while the man is the breadwinner.
Another aspect of the show that portrays women in a negative light, is the screening the women must go through before they are admitted into the club. The only requirement for men in the club is for them to be millionaires, while women must fill requirements based on their outward appearances instead of their career successes. On the show, women are subjected to embarrassing critiques of their appearances and Patti tells them all the same thing; that they need to have long, straight hair, perky boobs, wear heels, show leg and lose weight in order for men to want them. sometimes she even tells women that they simply are not good enough for her millionaires. This show is an example of the gender roles our society has placed women in, based on inferiority and sexual objectification.
I love Millionaire Matchmaker! I think it's a very entertaining show that sometimes makes me say wow...it's all about men with money looking for good looking women. This fits really well into what we are talking about because it portrays women as just the ones who have to look good and the man as wealthy. So does a man just need money to get any girl he wanted? And if a woman looks good can she get any man she wants? Those are some questions you can raise when you do your paper. This also reminded me of the Disney Princesses article because what all the princesses seem to have in common was beauty, just like the ladies on Millionaire Matchmaker.
ReplyDeleteI think that what you have chosen to write about is really good, Ive seen that show a few times and I think its really funny how they basically set these women up to look like gold diggers. I think the points you made about the male gaze will work really well and you will definitely have enough to talk about with in the Mulvey article alone. I would really like to know more about how these women are portrayed on the show and the various comments that are made that degrade them or align them with what Mulvey says. Overall I think you will have tons to write about I'm sure this show as lots to offer on the heteronormativity subject.
ReplyDeleteNina - This is a great show for you to write about. I find this show very interesting, for many of the same reasons that you state. Patti is very frank in terms of what type of women she is looking for, and how to match these women up with her millionaires.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to look at some of the different types of heterosexual men that hire Patti, as well as the women and non-heterosexual men. How do Patti's matchmaking efforts shift with different genders and sexualities? Or do they?
This is just a suggestion; in your essay, you can just focus on the women Patti chooses for her (straight) male millionaires. But, I would suggest that you clarify that you are focusing on one population that she works with. You can also pick and choose the episodes you want to use by going to to Bravo's Web site - it looks they have full episodes online. I'm interested to see what you decide to focus on for your essay. ~Megan