“I am the Baddest Bitch” LA Basketball Wives: Colorism, Draya vs. Laura, and Overall Worthlessness
So, I will admit I watch Basketball Wives. Yes, I do. However, I think I have to draw the line at LA Basketball Wives. It’s too much. In particular, it’s the colorism of the show that is the most glaring issue for me. On the very first episode, all the light-skinned women (i.e. Gloria Govan, Laura Govan, Imani Showalter, and Jackie Christie) had “beef” with one or two of the darker-skinned women (i.e. Maylaysia Pargo, Tanya Williams, and Kamisha Artest). And, then to add “insult to injury” they, meaning Shaunie O’Neal, removed two of the darker sisters—Kamisha Artest and Tanya Williams—from the show leaving only Malaysia.
So, in some ways, the color issue is resolved. However, now the issue of “acceptable” sexuality rears its ugly head. Draya Michele now becomes the bull’s eye for the women on the show. Draya’s cast bio is below
Draya Michele is currently a model and aspiring actress in Los Angeles with several music videos and magazine covers to her credit. A controversial beauty with a history of dating players, the funny and engaging Draya says “I have a million haters. I open the list of haters and it rolls across the floor.” No word yet if any of the new LA wives make that list.
In general, they enjoy questioning Draya’s motives and her intentions regarding the men in their lives whether they are married or not. She has been called “worthless” by Imani Showalter. She has been called a bad mother by every cast member. She was attacked by Laura Govan in the self-defense class because of “some phantom thing that Draya may or may not have said about her/her children.”
In addition to being physically beat up by Lauran Govan, Draya has been called everything under the sun by the women on the show because she plays the patriarchal game of securing the male gaze better than the other women on the show who are only seeking marriage from the basketball men in their lives in order to prove that they are not like the Draya’s of the World . . . that they are good girls. But, oh, they are more like her than I think they would care to admit. None of the women on the show with the exception of Maylaysia Pargo and Jackie Kristie are basketball wives. Mostly, the women range from girlfriends to baby mommas. These titles in of themselves are not problematic, but when they think their motives or social positioning is better than Draya’s than they are wrong.
I tell you, it is when Imani Showalter called Draya “worthless” that my soul cringed and wept for Draya. I agree with Maylaysia no one deserves to be called worthless.
And of course the drama does not stop when the show ends. There is plenty of off screen fighting between cast members and Shaunie O’Neal. Kamisha Artest is highly upset with Shaunie O’Neal about being removed from LA Basketball Wives.
You know, I am done with all reality TV for women including Bravo’s House Wives Series, VH1’s Basketball Wives Series, and Oxygen’s Bad Girls. I’m done. And, the one show I had such high hopes for was Oxygen’s Bad Girls. The initial premise of the show was to help “bad girls” figure out what they wanted to do with their lives so that they would not do “bad things.” And, yes, from jump it had its racist issues regarding black girls being seen as the angry sexual violent person and white women being seen as the alcoholic, but innocent woman. Still, the premise of the show was on community service and reform not on who can create the best in-house gang and reign as the baddest bitch.
Well, I am so over it. I am done with it all. Perhaps, it’s my period right now because I am against anything that is anti-woman including the scripted reality TV shows for women that display overall “worthlessness.”