Friday, May 14, 2004

A Conservative Survivor?

A saving grace of reality TV is that it can't always follow a politically correct script. Take the case of the Survivor finale. The two finalists, Rob and Amber, fell in love and got engaged. When Rob was asked what attracted him to Amber he replied that he found her sweet and beautiful. Amber said that she liked the way that Rob made her feel safe.

This is a long way from politically correct feminism. Feminists apply liberal principles to women: they believe that women should be independent, autonomous, self-defining individuals. Most female characters on TV follow this principle by being tough, feisty independent career girls.

In a reality show, though, a woman like Amber can be pronounced attractive for her sweetness and beauty, and she herself can express a preference for a man who is protectively masculine.

Of course, there is also a lot of cultural trash in reality shows. But at least there is some room for non-ideological qualities of men and women to appear.

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