Long showers=lesson plan ideas+water puddles on the bathroom floor

I really need to contact my landlord about fixing my shower--I live in Ghent and have a slow drain, causing my "closet" of a shower to often overflow if I leave the water on the whole time.  But see, I get my best ideas in the shower...so the longer my shower (what, I don't pay for water---and I have thick hair) the more developed my ideas become...so since I've had a huge case of writer's block today (yes, we suffer from that too) I took a longer than usual shower...and ended up with a huge puddle to a)not slip and break my neck on...and b)soak up before my 9 month old kitten tried to play in it.  So, earlier today...to avoid the block...I went to the grocery store and came home and cooked some couscous with pine nuts, sauteed onion and squash, gorgonzola, grape tomatoes and dried cranberries...then I read some blogs...btw, just over 50% of the ones I saw I was uber impressed with...the other I was like...not bad...very few was I, meh...needs some work (especially on length!--remember each post should either be 1 300 word, or 3 100 word posts...but I only grade what you have done by the due date)

So when that didn't work, I turned on mindless tv (Bravo's Housewives of Orange County) and read some...still...nothing...then my best friend called from FL to complain about his woman problems, and I was lecturing him about his crazy ex (cause, ya know...I'm the expert [sarcasm entered here]) and was telling him about this show I was watching....still...no idea had hit me until I was desperately trying to rinse the conditioner out of my hair (ladies, I'm sure you feel my pain)...and it hit me! I'll talk about Orange County...now...I know what you are thinking...what the heck can a stupid reality show about rich women in CA have to do with English?...well...sit back and be amazed at my cunning ability to connect English with reality TV...

So here is the background...(for those that don't know)...Vicki is a super busy business woman...she is the only one out of the group that works...Tamra likes to complain about money problems, but doesn't work...Gretchen's boyfriend died a few months back, now she is dating some other old guy...Lynn is the hippie, spacy one who just started selling her cuffs for fun.  Alexis is a super mom (with nannies) and is "religious" (meaning she goes to church every Sunday and gossips the rest of the week).  Now, don't get me wrong, each of these women have their positive attributes, but honestly kids, don't go trying to be like these women...I mean really...DRAMA!! So that is the background...here is the episode plot I want to focus on...

Vicki had to go to FL for a conference...she invited the girls for a girls week as well at the end of her conference...she told her husband that she was really looking forward to spending time with just the girls...so Tamra's husband didn't like the idea of her going away for a week so far away...so Tamra told him to come...Alexis has not been away from her husband overnight in more than 5 years of marriage...Lynn's husband was like...cool...have fun...and Gretchen's boyfriend showed up to suprise her when they were in the lobby of the hotel.  Vicki (the one who organized the trip and activities) had no idea the husbands were going to show up...so clearly, she was upset.  Then everyone started harshing her for being a stick in the mud and being upset that the guys were there...drama drama drama...then started gossiping behind her back about how unhealthy her marriage must be cause she didn't invite her husband and that their marriages were much stronger than hers...so...big picture...what is the take away from that episode...what is the theme?  Well, it sounded like at the end of the day, that because Vicki and her husband could be apart for a week and have time for their own lives/interests/friends...there was something wrong with them...

Now for the real magic...what does this have to do with English? Ah...brace yourself my friend...here it comes

The show is a "reality" show...but whose reality? Obviously, the cast gives seperate interviews throughout...not every single waking minute of each character is shown...so the cast/crew/editors are making choices about what we as audience see, which creates a seperate reality and innundates us with messages (hidden or blatant) that sway our opinion in one way or another...and over time, our opinions and thoughts about relationships, body image, style, etc...pretty much everything... is influenced by the images we are innundated with through media.  So, intentional or not, the editors are sending the message to their audience that Vicki's relationship is not ideal, not "normal" not even desirable in most social circles...but is this really the message that we should allow ourselves to accept?  Which couple has the better, more stable relationship...the one that says we must have our husbands accompany us on a week long vacay without our kids?  Or one that the woman can leave, have fun and have her partner hold down the fort and take on the day to day activities of the house while she is gone?  If this trip had been planned by Don (Vicki's husband) and had been an invitation of the men...would it have gone down like this?  Would Don have gotten slack for being miffed if his buddies showed up with their wives in tow? 

So yes, keep in mind that shows we watch, music we listen to (passively or actively) billboards on the corner, etc. are indeed compositions...with real rhetorical choices (or rhetorical failures) and they do influence the audience in some way, shape or form...the only way to overcome social oppression/stereotypes is to be aware of these choices, be aware of who/what is directing our thoughts, who creates the images and what they are meant to do and to analyze the rhetoric we come across every day....

Welcome to the Jungle, baby...