Revealing that I haven't owned a television set since 2000 usually generates gasps of shock and awe, even after I confess all my reasons for ditching it.
The admir
able reasons: wanted more quiet, wanted to do more reading, would rather gaze at Byzantine icons than a TV screen. Another great reason that resonates with women: was done watching a man watching television.Never mind that I've been known to tube for hours. Back in the 1990's, my eyes had become little gritty pebbles rattling around in their sockets by the end of Nickelodeon's "Mary-thon." (No, not the BVM, Mary...The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary.)
My renunciation was compromised when Netflix was invented and I ordered entire seasons of television shows to watch on my laptop computer. The following Lent, I canceled my Netflix subscription and never renewed it. Friends who still subscribe to Netflix are my DVD mules.
Hulu arrived on the scene, then SideReel and then network television figured out that streaming shows on their websites would capture more audience. Including me.
And so, it came to pass that one Tuesday night when watching "Brothers & Sisters" and "Desperate Housewives" (from Sunday) online wasn't quite enough and the buzz within my Twitter stream* about Jake and Vienna had finally gotten to me, I started watching "The Bachelor."
Not the whole season, of course.
I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, become more savvy about pop culture. First, I was horrified. And then? Fascinated. If only this crap had been available back when I was teaching Women and Men in Society as well as Sexuality and Society. I could've used this show as content.
And that, dear readers, is how I justify this guilty pleasure. I may not be actively teaching Sociology, but I am a Sociologist and "The Bachelor" is a treasure trove of data about contemporary social worlds, as is "The Bachelorette." That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Yet another reason I'll be heating my heels in hell, I suppose.
*No joke, most of the buzz seems to emanate from clergy.
