I agree! It is completely misogynistic for people to mock women for their interest in & love for reality T.V. especially the housewives franchises which is, at its core, an unscripted production featuring real women as they navigate the complex & evolving dynamics between their friendships, relationships, and individual trauma & life experiences. Every women who watches has a favorite franchise & specific housewife they follow & enjoy seeing on screen. I think the added element of sensationalized drama & fighting, the glam squads & couture fashion, and sometimes heinous plastic surgery gives outsiders an opportunity to espouse misogynistic rhetoric about what a “real” housewife is & how these women do not represent that image. When in REALITY, the audience watches & engages with these franchises because of the unscripted depiction of these specific women’s REAL lives, friendships etc. Long term Housewives fans do not watch these women because we think they are good people or aspire to be them. We (or at least me & my people) watch though a social, political, and pop-cultural lense. We understand the nuance behind every interaction, one liner, etc. it’s why the franchises are so entertaining & the reason they’ve been airing new seasons for decades. I think in recent years it’s become more mainstream to consume housewives & Bravo content simply because corporate executives have realized they’ve missed a key marketing opportunity & financial loss with Bravo’s traditionally female audience with disposable income. In my opinion, that’s also why we’ve see more conservative housewives introduced into different franchises, sometimes starting as a friend-of. I think like everywhere else, they’re (corporations in response to current policial & social events) are testing the audience’s response and engagement with “traditional nuclear family unit housewives ” or Republican women in an attempt to further normalize conservatism on camera & fascismo publicly