Why is it that when something is designed for and geared towards women it has to be automatically annoying? Websites, television channels, magazines – who are these women who feel like they can be stuffed into someone’s idea of what being a woman is all about?
It might seem like I’m bitching, and perhaps I am a little. To quote a character from the film Dolores Claiborne, “Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hang on to.” The latest in an ever-growing cluster of these “feminine” hot flashes, I mean hot spots, is the television show Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy, which will be airing on PBS in the near future, and its website, www.realsavvymoms.com.
Real Moms is aimed at new mothers who suddenly find themselves dealing with all sorts of truths about motherhood no one ever really told them. It’s probably quite helpful to certain moms out there who are feeling overwhelmed by it all, but I can’t imagine it’s that helpful to the majority of moms.
The show is currently holding open auditions for women out there who would call themselves either a “mom with talent,” a “soccer mom,” a “cool mom,” a “mom with a special story to share,” or a “super mom” to be the new hosts on the show. These women will talk to doctors, grocers, teachers, other moms – all in hopes of bringing a greater understanding to the grand mystery. The problem is, it’s dullsville.
There is nothing particularly savvy and cool about the moms on the website. They’re perfectly fine and all but nothing all that spectacular. Perhaps that’s why they’re now calling out to the public for help. Once the people who audition are chosen, visitors to www.realsavvymoms.com will get to watch their videos and decide who the next host will be. That way, they’ll be more inclined to pick someone who can dazzle a crowd.
Visiting the website, btw, will give you detailed instructions on how to: first, decide what kind of mom you are, and second, decide if you want to be instantly famous, and third, send in the videotape so the producers can decide if you’re camera-ready.
The website then gives specific instructions: Potential hosts can upload a two-minute video audition clip of themselves to www.realsavvymoms.com. At the site, potential hosts will find easy step-by-step instructions as well as contest rules and entry guidelines. Visitors will also find a script to read during their clip, and several different topics to select from and discuss during the audition clip. Participants are also invited to view clips of the show.
The subjects taken on by these moms must universalize everything so that it’s non-political, non-partisan and, as a result, uninteresting. Anyone who’s ever been a mom, and especially a stay-at-home mom, knows that one of the hardest things about it is that feeling of intellectual hunger. We’re thinking people, most of us, you know, underneath our aprons, bad dye jobs, cotton knit sweaters and anti-bacterial soap. Would it be too much to expect a show called Real Savvy, at the very least, be real savvy? How about delving into the deeper, darker side of motherhood? Or how about talking about something else entirely, like world politics or Shakespeare?
Wouldn’t that help out the new moms as much as learning about what causes thrush and what to do if you have a biter?
Visit www.realsavvymoms.com for more detailed instructions on how to become the next host for Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy.
