The Reality TV Family Tree
Breaking down America's favorite television genre, in all its twisted glory
The 1973 PBS Documentary "An American Family" is often described as a precursor to modern reality television, which is fitting since the genre has come to resemble a family itself: multigeneratonal, competitive, filled with weirdos. Two relatively reality-free decades passed between the staid, observational PBS show and its surly spawn—the more manufactured, melodramatic MTV productions, "The Real World" and "Road Rules." They, in turn, kicked off the insane explosion of drunken, bug-eating, celebrity-fueled antics we see today. READ MORE >>
Cleaning: The Final Feminist Frontier
Why men still don't do their share of the dirty work.
The day after Hurricane Sandy, my husband had cabin fever and was desperate to go for a walk. We had been trapped in our apartment for 36 hours. Here was the rub. His father was about to come over, and our living room was strewn with shut-in detritus: magazines, beef jerky wrappers, and empty soup cans. Even though I was eight months pregnant, I insisted we tidy up. My husband argued that his dad didn’t care if our place was a bit messy, but it’s really hard to fight with a massively pregnant person who is hanging up jackets and washing dishes. READ MORE >>
