Target Women: Charm School

by Joe Sonka on 8.22.2009 · 4 comments

in General

National treasure Sarah Haskins takes a look at the most horrid reality show this side of “More to Love“.

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This article was written by joe sonka

joe sonka has written 11 posts for Feministe.

{ 4 comments }

1 Manju 8.22.2009 at 7:32 pm: good stuff. i prefer the real housewives series though. the crass social climbing, the materialism, the general vulgarity that is the American classless society. this is what makes America so great.
2 Amanda H 8.22.2009 at 11:27 pm: Oh Ricki Lake…

I was so impressed when I saw the Business of Being born…what happened?

Well…

I guess $$$ happened.

:(
3 ThickRedGlasses 8.23.2009 at 5:30 pm: I watched this past season of Charm School and was surprised by how good it was. I don’t think Sarah Haskins gives the show a fair critique, nor does she give the contestants any props for wanting to make positive changes in their lives. Many of those women talk about the abuse they’ve suffered as children, which I think takes a lot of bravery. I think the shows that the contestants came from are much worse and exploitive than Charm School. VH1 should get rid of those shows and let people nominate themselves for Charm School.
4 Thom 8.24.2009 at 10:01 am: ThickRedGlasses- Certainly, the basic idea of Charm Scool and Tool Academy (a similar show for men on VH1) of taking self destructive egotists and getting themselves to see a bigger world outside themselves and a less destructive way to approach their problems isn’t a bad idea. However, where these “Self Improvement” programs fail? (And do so epically?) They are competitions. This does not really encourage genuine soul searching and plays up to the base instincts of people. Winning is the goal, not growing into a stronger, better person. Sure, I think some of the women who participate actually gained something, but I suspect many who were sent away from the show were not given true preperation to avoiding falling into the same traps.