back to the dark ages

Just saw a new summer show on NBC 'Meet my folks'.
The premise is trivial: 3 guys get to spend a weekend with a girl's family, and one who makes it all the way through
is granted a trip to Hawai with the girl.

Of course, the family visit is no picnic, all sorts of dirty underwear is flashed around, culminating in the contenders taking a lie detector test. (I will never figure out why fathers want to ask whether each guy would try to sleep with the girl, and why each guy would answer that he would not. According to the lie detector, and per any reasonable definition of dating in this time and place, they would and they should.)

However hard it is for contenders, the show treats the women the worst. The girl is a trophy, a less-desirable part of the grand prize, which is a trip to Hawaii. She is also used as a bait - parents get to spy on her and the guys, in case somebody oversteps the limits. The girl does not get any say in the decision who of the guys gets to take her on the trip, nor whether she's interested in associating with any one of them at all.

Mom spends all her time by the father's side, which is where, producers must've figured, women belong, anyway. Contenders are expected, and encouraged, to physically flirt with the mother. Particular care is taken to air dirty factoids on the guys and women with children, however innocent the actual facts might have been. The lie detector questions whether each guy liked Mom (in both cases - yes, true) and flirted with Mom(both cases - no, false) conclude the torture. Oh, and the father does not seem to care what the answers are.

The women are reduced to figurines, place-holders, in this game. They are neither players, nor judges, but walking and talking furniture or props used for better make-believe.

back to the dark ages

Just saw a new summer show on NBC 'Meet my folks'.
The premise is trivial: 3 guys get to spend a weekend with a girl's family, and one who makes it all the way through
is granted a trip to Hawai with the girl.

Of course, the family visit is no picnic, all sorts of dirty underwear is flashed around, culminating in the contenders taking a lie detector test. (I will never figure out why fathers want to ask whether each guy would try to sleep with the girl, and why each guy would answer that he would not. According to the lie detector, and per any reasonable definition of dating in this time and place, they would and they should.)

However hard it is for contenders, the show treats the women the worst. The girl is a trophy, a less-desirable part of the grand prize, which is a trip to Hawaii. She is also used as a bait - parents get to spy on her and the guys, in case somebody oversteps the limits. The girl does not get any say in the decision who of the guys gets to take her on the trip, nor whether she's interested in associating with any one of them at all.

Mom spends all her time by the father's side, which is where, producers must've figured, women belong, anyway. Contenders are expected, and encouraged, to physically flirt with the mother. Particular care is taken to air dirty factoids on the guys and women with children, however innocent the actual facts might have been. The lie detector questions whether each guy liked Mom (in both cases - yes, true) and flirted with Mom(both cases - no, false) conclude the torture. Oh, and the father does not seem to care what the answers are.

The women are reduced to figurines, place-holders, in this game. They are neither players, nor judges, but walking and talking furniture or props used for better make-believe.