Historians on Housewives

Fashion, Performance, and Power on Bravo Reality TV

Kacey Calahane, Jessica Millward, Max Speare

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English

The University of North Carolina Press
31 March 2025

Regional & national history; Media studies; Gender studies, gender groups

According to popular stereotype, Bravo reality television portrays vapid, one-dimensional characters tearing each other down for viewers' enjoyment. Whether The Real Housewives taps into our voyeuristic urges, our fascination with wealth and class, or the allure of the sheer spectacle of grown women yelling at one another, the show is truly a cultural phenomenon—and a global one, with more than twenty international spin-offs. Historians on Housewives looks past the show's reputation as lowbrow, unscripted reality television and unveils

deeper historical meanings behind some of Bravo's best-known programs and franchises.

This collection of ten essays is both a celebration of the bizarre behavior of the Real Housewives and a critical theorizing the importance of the shows and the Housewives themselves. Historians on Housewives explores relationships between historical topics and themes and some of Bravo's most iconic moments to demonstrate the usefulness of Bravo television as a tool for making history accessible. With contributions from scholars representing an impressive historical breadth, from the Roman Empire to the civil rights movement and beyond, the volume carves out a space for serious treatment of the franchise, fusing scholarship with pop culture to suggest interdisciplinary approaches for ""doing history"" that appeal to popular and academic audiences alike.

Contributors are Nicole L. Anslover, Martina Baldwin, Emilie M.

Brinkman, Marcia Chatelain, Jennifer C. Edwards, Jennifer M. Fogel, Tanisha C. Ford, Noah D. Guynn, Rosemarie Jones, Haley Schroer, Kristalyn M. Shefvelend, and Serenity Sutherland.

Edited by: Kacey Calahane, Jessica Millward, Max Speare
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm, Spine: 17mm
Weight: 413g
ISBN: 9781469686288
ISBN 10: 1469686287
Pages: 294
Publication Date: 31 March 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Kacey Calahane is assistant professor of history at Chaffey College. Jessica Millward is associate professor of history and African American studies at the University of California Irvine. Max Speare is associate professor of history at Saddleback College.

Reviews for Historians on Housewives: Fashion, Performance, and Power on Bravo Reality TV

""Dramatic and effective, this collection creatively bridges American popular culture and intellectual production and interrogates the powerful relationship between past and present. I cannot think of a single other book like this one.""--Leslie M. Alexander, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of History at Rutgers University