One of my favorite things about basically every single HGTV show is the relationship dynamics that play out between the participating couples. Love It or List It, my gateway home improvement drug, milks this for every drop it can, scripting conversation between bickering spouses, upping the sass factor if those spouses are of the same gender.
But after wasting too much time with LIOLI and taking a brief detour to the world of House Hunters (both original recipe and international) I found the promised land of Property Brothers, truly the greatest version of home improvement television this side of Bob Villa.
Can you imagine the excitement at the pitch meeting?
Producer: "Picture two men. Both very tall. Both very handsome. One neat and dapper, one rugged. The rugged one spends a lot of the episode yielding heavy tools like sledgehammers, but also picks out the best patterns for your couch fabric, because he's manly yet stylish. The other one doesn't do much, but looks good."
HGTV exec: 'Give me two million episodes!"
Before someone gets upset, I don't watch Property Brothers for the attractive men, though I'm sure there are plenty of people who do. I watch it for the relative realism of its people, plots and renovations - although the couples' apparent unfamiliarity with the structure of the show they're on always brings me down. (Why are they surprised the first house is out of their budget? ONE OF THE BROTHER'S JOB IS TO DO RENOVATIONS, WHY ARE YOU SAYING YOU AREN'T OPEN TO A RENO?)
Now that I've gotten through that long preamble, I have to tell you that the episode I watched tonight nearly broke me. If you have Netflix - which I not only do but just tonight managed to hook up to my TV tonight like a grownup - I'll direct you to season four, episode one, titled "Under Their Own Roof."
The episode features a couple that, for some unexplained reason, has moved from an apartment in Manhattan into the wife's parents' home while they look for a house to buy. They complain about a lack of privacy, suggesting their bedroom wall's position next to the living room means too much noise disturbs them from the common area, but I'm pretty sure they are just embarrassed to have sex while their in-laws watch The Good Wife. (No hate on The Good Wife, which will almost certainly be the subject of a blog post coming soon.)
Yada yada yada, hot brothers do somethings, tear up some sinks, bing bang boom, dream home. I'm not super interested in recapping the happenings. What I'm interested in is talking about Wyatt, who seems pretty convinced that this whole home purchasing endeavor is a man's game with whatsherface (I don't remember his wife's name, for which I blame the show, not my failure to take notes or look it up) just along for the ride.
I never once heard Wyatt use the word "we" or "our." For Wyatt, it was all "my," be it a budget, a home or taste. After Wyatt established how much he - not they - could afford to spend on a home, and the Property Brothers convinced him a reno made sense, the couple bought a condo (I think) nicknamed 'The Dog House.' (This show is weird). Upon buying the home, Wyatt sat in a car with unnamed wife and expressed his enthusiasm, before adding, "Now I'm poor."
Now you're BOTH POOR, Wyatt! What's yours is hers and what's hers is yours!
This continues to the point where he spent a lot of money on some ugly curtains or something and she just made a sassy wife comment about him deciding not to be frugal for such a stupid item, and, after the home is done, unnamed wife THANKS WYATT for the largess of spending THEIR MONEY. on a PLACE FOR BOTH OF THEM TO LIVE.
Wyatt's thoughts? He's excited to spend the night in his own home. Not theirs. Because he is the man, and this is 1950.
And with that, I've become a woman of the Internet, angry about the men folks. Even if you haven't seen the episode (what are you waiting for?) curious for your thoughts, readers, on sexism or the lack of it on HGTV.
And if you have seen it, do you think I'm being too hard on Wyatt? Is it my wine and strawberries and too-soft Gorgonzola poisoning my mind? Am I just bitter because I don't have a man to buy me a home that handsome TV stars will renovate? (Get it together, Barrett, and make sure they put in a tennis court.)
I have not seen this episode, but I have seen a lot of Property Brothers. Also, there was a guest at my cousin's wedding this month who looked a good bit like a Property Brother.
ReplyDeleteI think the more common form of sexism on HGTV shows in general is the idea that the wife has more opinions about the house/decorating/etc than the husband does, and he's just going along with it to make her happy. For example, there's the trope that they see a beautiful walk-in closet and she says, "This is great! I wonder where your stuff is going to go, honey." In general, sexism for cheap laughs = not okay, but also very common, so what are you going to do. It does seem odd that, in this case, it was not really being played for laughs... it was apparently just how he felt, and everyone was going along with it.
These are my thoughts, which are few because I have not seen this episode, although work is slow and I bet nobody would notice if I just took half an hour to watch Property Brothers.