Girls Next Door

The Girls Next Door is a show about three women, Bridget, Holly and Kendra who live with Hugh Heffner in the Playboy mansion. I watched the show today in order to determine whether or not I think the show has an impact on the socialization of young women. I have never seen the show before, but it was pretty easy to understand the basic premise: three playboy bunnies use the unlimited supply of money they have to do whatever they want.

The show today was about the women taking a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Bridget has a radio show, and they were broadcasting from Mardi Gras. The three went there, partied at Mardi Gras, held a fundraiser to benefit victims of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and toured the area that was primarily effected by the Hurricane. After watching it, I believe that it definitely would have an impact on the socialization of girls who watch it.

First of all, the girls are all beautiful (a requirement for being a Playboy bunny). Any young girl who is exposed to any type of mainstream media knows what "beautiful" women are supposed to be, and these three meet the criteria very well. They are all blond, tall (from what I can tell on television), thin and large-chested. It is drilled into the heads of young women all the time that these qualities are what makes a woman attractive. This has all kinds of effects on the socialization of young women, as they aspire to look like the women that they see portrayed as attractive. If there was not so much emphasis in our society on being attractive, I do not think that we would have nearly as much of a problem with teenage girls and eating disorders. This is serious problem among young women especially, and I have personally seen too many people struggle with eating disorders. As if that were not bad enough, the girls then try to imitate how these women act, and that really worries me.

These women live in the lap of luxury. In the episode I just saw there is the mansion they live in, limousines that take them everywhere, make-up artists that travel with them, extravagant hotels and a lot of partying. Everyone in the show, even the news anchor when Bridget appeared to talk about the fundraiser, seems to worship these women. Who would not want all of those things? However, most girls will equate looking and acting like these women as being the only way to get them. During this show, there were surprisinly not more than a few instances where I thought the women were portrayed as being stupid, but I am sure that is shown in some episodes. They definitely were not shown as intelligent women. So girls think they have to act dumb in order to obtain this kind of life. Also, the women dress in skimpy clothing and act as if they are always a sex object. At one point Kendra said "I'll get the most beads because of my new and approved babies right here" while rubbing her chest. Does it really surprise you that you see young women sporting less and less clothing everywhere you go? Society cannot figure out why teenagers are becoming sexually active at earlier and earlier ages, but I have a pretty good inkling why. Girls are exposed to behavior like this and think that acting like a tramp is the best way to get everything these women have.

I have no problem with Playboy, or with this show existing. If people want mind-numbing entertainment, they can have it. However, if I were a parent, I can guarantee my children would not be watching this show. Unfortunately, I think this type of influence over the socialization of young women (and men; they expect women to look and act this way as much as the young women think hey have to) permeates deeper into all of the media in our society. I do not think the show is powerful enough to have a vast impact all on its own. However, within the context of our society where women are portrayed in this way, it definitely does. Hopefully, the media will find a way to stop reinforcing this stereotype and help young women realize there is lot more to life than trying to be like the women they see on television.