Blog 6

This week I felt like bringing a feminist lens to the TV show “The Price is Right”.
I must bring up the point that in America we all have either seen or heard of the reality game show “The Price is Right”. Back in the day it was hosted by a man named Bob Barker, and he did a fine job to say the least and now a days, the show is the same but with a different host, yet the host is still male like the previous, and all the prizes are presented by females just like they were when the show first aired November 26, 1956 on NBC. Recently, I flipped through the channels on the TV and I came across a childhood favorite TV show of mine, “The Price is Right”. However, this time as I watched the overly cheerily contestants push in their estimated price to see if they would be the next winner, I noticed how awkward the females who showcased the prizes were dressed and I found that the way they were smiling was quite odd it was like someone plastered a smile on their face, I mean after the show those girls probably couldn’t smile for a week. As I watched I began wondering if other people noticed how awkward these women looked or if people found this attractive. I wondered if women in a non-westernized culture would be pleased by these American women's behavior or if they would be dismayed by it. By having the most “beautiful models “show casing material goods what are we as Americans saying about our women? Why aren’t there any male models, showcasing the prizes wearing scantily clad outfits with a plastered smile on their face? Why has the show followed the same protocol since the 5os’ of having a male host and female models show case the prizes? All of these questions are pointed at one direction, we as a nation need to question the motives behind the things we watch, read, and listen too. From a feminist lens the TV show The Price is Right is skewed quite a bit. As a critique towards the producers of the show, I would say that they need to re-evaluate their reasons for running the show the way they do… they need to update it with a less demeaning message towards women and perhaps they could have male’s show case the prizes, just a thought.