Chanel Surfing: Quick Takes on TV
by Racialicious Special Correspondent Latoya Peterson
Cashmere Mafia (ABC)
Some quick thoughts:
*Caitlin’s African-American assistant is sporting a clean new shape up in episode three. What happened to the dreds?
*Alicia has been described as the “hot cocoa love interest,” oy! Still waiting to see if Alicia makes it through the season.
*Still no Jack Yang. What are they waiting for? Oh, whew - just checked the “fan” site - looks like he’ll make an appearance on Wednesday.
*Can I just say boo to Mia’s “let’s talk about this” editor’s letter? Your ex went for blood by scheduling the evil man-eating woman cover - why the hell didn’t you bring it in the note from the publisher?
*Lipstick Jungle advertisements! Competition is coming!
*Oh no, spoiler “fan” site also says that Caitlin finds herself attracted to a man she meets at the lesbian baby shower. Is this the end for Alicia?
How to Look Good Naked (Lifetime)
I. Don’t. Do. Lifetime.
I can’t stand that channel.
But somehow, someway, I managed to watch one episode of Carson Kressley’s How to Look Good Naked and became instantly hooked. The show is just excellent. While I wasn’t a huge fan of Queer Eye, Carson manages to sculpt and shape a show that encourages women to see their bodies for what they are - not what society says they should be.
Aggressively multicultural, the show manages to incorporate women of different shapes, sizes, races, and ethnicities - without it looking like a gimmick. From the opening credits to the women included in the reality check to the women featured on the show, it is obvious that Lifetime aimed to be as inclusive as possible while really tackling the internalized messages that leads women to hate their bodies. Now, this is not going to be the be all end all solution to the body image problems women face in modern society - but it is an excellent way to open a dialogue.
(And oh snap - have y’all seen the stills from the original show? Who is Gok Wan and why isn’t he on this side of the pond?)
Millionaire Matchmaker (Bravo)
This show has not yet premiered, but the producers have managed to (unintentionally, IMO) display how race and attractiveness plays in society.
The set-up: The Matchmaker is holding a pre-screening for women to present to her clients. She is making a note to select the most cultured, educated, and beautiful women of the bunch.
She zeroes in on a beautiful black woman who is rocking a thick, shoulder length, wavy, almost crimped style. After appraising her look book and credentials, the matchmaker points to a picture and asks “Can you get your hair back into this style before the party?” The show cuts to commercial shortly after.
At this point, I turned to my boyfriend. “I bet she comes back with straightened hair.”
“Nah,” he said, “I bet you it will be a big ass Angela Davis ‘fro.”
The commercial ended. The party was in full swing. The camera cuts to the black girl - sporting freshly relaxed hair (or a weave?) with blond highlights. The only other black woman who made the cut also had long, relaxed hair.
Interesting.
I wonder if that suggestion was based on client preference or on the Matchmaker’s idea of beauty?
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
Carmen Van Kerckhove wrote:
I am LOVING “How to Look Good Naked.” I’m so glad you blogged about it, Latoya, because I was planning to as well.
I think the show does an amazing job of showing just how fucked up women’s perceptions of their bodies are. The visual tricks they use to illustrate that are brilliant.
(For those of you who haven’t watched the show: in each episode Carson asks the woman to place herself in a line of women where she thinks she fits in terms of size. Inevitably she should actually be the 2nd or 3rd smallest, but she places herself on the largest end of the scale. I’m sure I’d do the same if I were on the show.)
I also really appreciate the diversity on the show. That episode with the black mother and daughter was so heart-breaking - to see how the mother passed her issues onto her daughter.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 9:18 am ¶
islandgirl550 wrote:
Latoya: I saw an episode of How To Look Good Naked while in London. Can I just say GOK WAN is FAB-U-LOUS x three!!! And you’re right, why isn’t he on this side of the pond?
On Millionaire Matchmaker… I’m not surprised. Natural hair that isn’t straight makes some people very… very uncomfortable. Someone recently told me mine made me very MYSTICAL… uh huh… ok.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 10:16 am ¶
deb wrote:
I never watch Lifetime. Nothing personal, it just never occurs to me. However, I really do want to see HtLGN.
I especially wanted to watch the episode featuring the mother and daughter with self-esteem issues, but I missed it.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 10:36 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Carmen - Seriously though…but isn’t that how a lot of these issues get started? Your family comments on that one thing and you end up with a complex.
IslandGirl550 - Seriously! I need more on this Gok Wan character - if nothing else than a full pictorial of outfits.
And yes, the natural thing was a bit of a blower. That’s why I was wondering if it was the matchmaker’s preference or the candidates. Both of the millionaires in question where white. Were they that specific in their preferences? Hmm…
deb -
The only thing Comcast is good for is on Demand. There should be some new episodes on there…
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 11:32 am ¶
Vgirl wrote:
After watching an episode of Super Nanny on which Nanny Jo helps two Chinese American parents overcome their overachieving ambitions for their five children (yes, the episode was hella problematic, yikes), I joined some fellow lezbos to watch Cashmere Mafia.
We got one kiss and the promise of more awkward gay jokes at the expense of a character that exclaimed to her “hot chocolate” girlfriend, “I don’t care if I’m gay or straight!”
Um, really? Because making that kind of personal discovery is often accompanied by some serious introspection…or at least some general caring if you’re gay or straight. The whole gaggle of lesbians that watched along with me felt very trivialized and disappointed. Maybe the character will come to grips with the reality of homophobia and both the good and bad that comes along with being queer. From the content of the episode, things sure don’t look promising.
Also, no self respecting Charlie’s Angel would stand for a sexist magazine cover like that, ahem, Lucy Liu!
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 12:28 pm ¶
anu wrote:
In my own short experience with natural hair so far, its been black men express a greater preference for straightened hair, white guys don’t care as much. Even if you’re attractive, rockin a ‘fro could be a deal breaker for some of the more conservative brothers, but for other men attractive is attractive, though I could see how a hairstyle could play into whether they find the woman attractive in the first place.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 12:44 pm ¶
Daomadan wrote:
I’m glad to hear a great review of How to Look Good Naked and am glad that it sends a body-positive message to a diverse group of women, but I am slightly reticent to completely embrace it when once again it is a MAN (gay or not) telling us to feel good about ourselves.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 1:11 pm ¶
Fatemeh wrote:
As someone who watches Lifetime only for reruns of Golden Girls and Will & Grace, I am surprised about Look Good Naked; I’ve seen a zillion promos for it, and I guess it’s time for me to give it a try. Thanks, Latoya!
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 2:15 pm ¶
NancyP wrote:
from the little picture on the post, they already look good naked. I don’t have cable, so I can’t make further comment.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 5:17 pm ¶
Bianca Reagan wrote:
I like How to Look Good Naked too!
That Millionaire show on Bravo ticks me off for more reasons than the black woman hair. It’s essentially a show about mail order brides, except the brides and the millionaires are all American.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 6:08 pm ¶
miss girl wrote:
Re: Daomadan
Maybe this reflects my own biases and stereotypes, but I’d honestly only feel comfortable revealing my naked body to a gay man - out of a pool of straight men, straight women, or gay women (and even more categories), gay men seem the most non-threatening and non-judgmental.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 6:40 pm ¶
Stacy wrote:
Thanks for the review. I don’t do Lifetime either, but I will be checking out Carson’s show.
Posted 23 Jan 2008 at 11:21 pm ¶
islandgirl550 wrote:
Watched Cashmere Mafia last night. The Asian man that is hooked up with Mia was HOTTTTTT!!!!!! I was interested in the dialog between them about not dating Asian because of how their parents constantly force them to.
Posted 24 Jan 2008 at 11:08 am ¶
R. Prince wrote:
@ islandgirl550, for a minute there I thought that was it between mia and him since he said he didn’t usually go for chinese.. it got me a little pissed but I can see why he’d be pushed into the opposite direction when his parents force him to date certain people…anyway, I’m glad they hooked up in spite of that.
Posted 24 Jan 2008 at 11:46 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Island Girl & R. Price -
Exactly! I was so blown when he said that. Luckily, it all worked out in the end. He was ridiculously good in that dinner party. Her ex was pwned!
Did y’all notice Caitlin slipped the guy her number while she was on a date? Bad form!
Posted 24 Jan 2008 at 12:16 pm ¶
islandgirl550 wrote:
Latoya: Caitlin is quickly becoming my favorite character on the show.
Also, found some great clips of Gok Wan on youtube. He truly is FIERCE!
Posted 26 Jan 2008 at 10:57 pm ¶