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The "Rich Bitch": Class And Gender On The Real Housewives Of New York City, Michael J. Lee
The "Rich Bitch": Class And Gender On The Real Housewives Of New York City, Michael J. Lee
Michael J Lee
This project offers the opportunity to examine the ways in which normative conceptions of class and gender cohere to produce an archetypal, trans-historical villain, what we term “the rich bitch.” In this essay, we employ the concept of irony to analyze how Bravo'sThe Real Housewives of New York Citycreates rich women as objects of cultural derision, well-heeled jesters in a populist court. The show primes its savvy, upscale audience to judge the extravagance of female scapegoats harshly in tough economic times. The housewives' class and gender flops are inter-related on the show. The lure of class status produces inconsiderate mothers. …