One hundred years after women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote in England, Celebrity Big Brother will kick off its next season with a loving, respectful tribute to that milestone: by starting the show in January as a “man-free zone.”
According to the BBC, the upcoming season will start with a house full of women, in an attempt to “explore how the all-female housemates interact.” The men, who will eventually be part of the show, will be added dribble by dribble; there’s no final word on how many men will be in the show or how long this precious, women-only zone will exist. The purpose of the all-women start to a show about the surveillance state and celebrity is to “what happens when women hold the power.” Surely this is what suffragettes were thinking of when they envisioned a future state in which women had just as much power as men!
Aside from just living in the house and having their every moment filmed, the women will partake in a “series of entertaining tasks and hidden experiments which will test their—and our—assumptions, challenge gender stereotypes and reveal fascinating truths about what it is to be a woman—and man—in the 21st Century.” Is this a good idea? Sure! Is this a smart idea? Definitely. British reality TV has a delightfully smutty quality that we Americans have yet to recreate properly; I am absolutely sure that this show will be a beautiful nightmare.
Yes, feminism! Slay, empowerment! This is what a feminist looks like—a famous British woman agreeing to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in an attempt to interrogate what it really means to be a 21st century woman.