August SYMPOSIUM: 20 Years of the Real Housewives

We took July off, but SYMPOSIUM is back, baby! Reminder that you don’t need to do any prep work for our monthly Symposiums, just show up ready for a great conversation. Also note that we’re still in summer hours through the end of August!

This year marks 20 Years of the Real Housewives franchise, which makes it a great time to talk about how these reality shows set in various American cities have affected our culture. Because they have, there’s no doubt.

Even if you’ve never watched an episode of any of the Real Housewives shows, you can’t escape their cultural impact. On fashion, girls trips, pop culture gossip, wealth and class conversations, and, most notably, on female friendships.

For the August Symposium, I want us to share our favorite Housewives, scenes/moments/scenarios, but (of course) I also want to take it a step deeper and think about some of the messaging that has coursed through the culture because of these people’s antics.

Is this how grown act? Do you know anyone who dresses like this? Do you feel like the Housewives truly represent their cities? Is it weird that so few of them are actually “housewives” as we understand that (now outdated) expression??

If you’ve been around long enough, you know that I’ve talked about Real Housewives on and off for almost the entire two decades it has existed. My original blog was named Hollywood Housewife as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the shows (and also because I was a literal housewife at the time).

But I’m curious to hear YOUR takes (both silly and thoughtful, as we always do) about the cultural phenomenon that is the Real Housewives.

**(note the summer hours!) - This meeting WILL be recorded