Battle of the Beauties!! Star Jones vs. Evelyn Lozada
Author: Sylvia Burley
I have grudgingly admitted to watching reality TV including the Basketballs Wives series which is truly like watching a train wreck and just as hard to ignore. Let’s be honest, it is so hard to resist watching humans operate at their base level. I am both fascinated and repulsed.
Along with many others, I have become increasingly disturbed at the level of violence some of these shows display, especially those portraying women of color.
Star Jones has taken up the mantle on this issue. She is particularly concerned about the effect these reality shows may have on young women.
“When you see a woman of color treat another grown woman of color with disrespect and you think that that’s appropriate, that’s where we’ve lost girls,” she said on The Today Show.
Let’s be real though. Nene Leakes of the Real Housewives of Atlanta and Evelyn Lozada and Tami Roman of Basketball Wives Miami, three of the most notorious bullies in reality TV, are also fan favorites. Why? Because we love people who love drama! We also tend to admire people who say what we lack the courage to. I leave you to search within your own heart to determine what draws you (I’m too busy psycho-analyzing myself), but to Ms. Jones’ larger point, this can’t be good for impressionable young women.
“Especially when you are a person of color, when your viewing choices…of seeing positive role models are limited and the ones you see the most are these people acting in a negative fashion, then you start to think that’s the way I can act…,” Jones further noted.
Ms. Jones is not only talking about this issue, she is doing something. As reported by TheBuzzInTheCity.com, she recently took to Twitter to start a campaign. Her campaign includes an online petition to boycott Evelyn Lozada’s new show with fiancé Ocho Cinco titled Ev and Ocho. The graphic on the petition is very appropriate showing Lozada in full rage ready to kick a@# and take names.
I didn’t know about this new show and would not have watched it as I find Evelyn Lozada distasteful and Ev and Ocho together unbearable. I mean, she’s obviously insecure and his suggestion for addressing her insecurity was to suggest a threesome because hey, I’m GOING to mess around so let’s mess around together. Really?!! I digress (see how easy it is to get drawn in?).
If you too are concerned, sign the petition and then refuse to watch these shows. For those of us having a hard time kicking the habit, look for an RTA (Reality TV Anonymous) group coming to a community center near you. The meetings will be taped and shopped to TLC.
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Yes, I used to love Basketball Wives Miami but there was just too much fighting and cattiness over stupid stuff. I stopped watching it and don’t have plans to resume. I am in agreement with Star Jones that this can’t be good for our young impressionable girls. The even sadder part is that aside from reality television, this is actually how a lot of women treat one another each and every day in real lives. I cannot for the life of me figure out why women cant just embrace one another, be supportive, and get along just because we have more in common than not.
I totally agree with Star and anyone else who wants this mess to stop! I’m SO not impressed with Shaunie making money without morals. I know someone profits off of us acting a fool and has been for years. However, I’d like to think an intelligent person of color would recognize the negative images and stereotypes portrayed of African-American women in the media and make a concerted effort not to produce projects that enhance and exploit such images. Violence and drama is second only to sex selling in the media, but there comes a time when you have to just say “no”. I started watching this show for the first time last season so I’ve missed the background parts. However, this season I’ve watched off/on – I guess – hoping and praying Shaunie would intervene, redirect, and become a change agent to further advance the quality of the lives of these obviously emotionally unhealthy women, but she never has. Of course, everyone is responsible for their own actions, but as the producer (co-producer or whatever her title is) and more importantly a “friend” because let’s face it – there’s no way I’d let a friend of mine be emotionally or physically abused by another friend in or out of my presence and especially not in the name of a dollar bill. So I too, signed the petition – will not be watching anymore of these shows to include the Ev and Ocho set and pray to GOD Shaunie gets a conscious and takes this another direction or the show ceases to continue. If portraying women of color as angry, emotionally disturbed, money hungry groupies trying to come up on a man for a lifestyle is the only image reality TV wants to portray to me then I guess “I’m just not about this life”.
I am so very repulsed by these type of reality shows. It is as though we don’t have enough negative images of african americans in general. I have never watched one, and will not. Ordinarily my take is don’t knock it if you’ve never even watched it, but what I have seen of clips, advertisements, etc. doesn’t even remotely picque my attention.
How can we as women demand for men to treat us with R-E-S-P-E-C-T, if we are the first to act, dress, and carry ourselves in a less than respectful way. Come on Sistah’s we are descendants of royalty, we can do so much better than this!
Starr Jones kudos to you to steppin up to the plate!
La Donna
Washington, D.C.
I JUST WANT TO SEE EVELYN GET WHATS COMING TO HER CUZ JENN CAN’T FIGHT HER SHE HAS A BUSINESS TO RUN. SO WE THE PAST FANS WILL DO THE FIGHTING FOR HER CUZ BULLING IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!! I STILL LOVE SHOW BUT I HATE WHERE ITS GOING THIS SEASON.