Mean Girls the movie might be fun to watch, but in real life mean girls aren’t trending. It’s Women’s History Month so it was truly unfortunate when news broke about Joseline Hernandez’s violent, crude, and off-putting behavior towards her cast-mates. Every day we speak about how should we empower and uplift women, but then the media spotlights women putting other women down. When will we as a culture take action to stop the promotion of bullying?
A Little Background
Zeus Network debuted Joseline’s Cabaret – Miami back in January 2020. The show has had 3 seasons so far, filmed in ATL, Miami, and currently Las Vegas. Ironically, the goal of the show was to uplift the cast members who were trying to become strippers. During a previous interview Hernadez even said, “If I can get one of you girls to change your life, I’d be fine with that.” When we reflect over past clips, we can see somewhere along the lines, Joseline’s message may have gotten lost. From mental abuse to physical, she has gone way too far. Some have even compared the show to Oxygen’s, Bad Girls Club. In spite of the show being on for a year, people mainly made jokes about Joseline’s behavior on social media claiming she was just being herself.
All of the laughs came to a pause this week when Amber, one of the cast-mates went on Instagram Live to explain what happened between her and Joseline.
Soon after the news came out, social media broke into an uproar. At that point fans were demanding for the show to be canceled, celebrities began to speak up, and even Zeus came out with their own statement. Along with Amber coming out, another castmate, Gaia, said she was a witness to Amber’s abuse from Joseline.
Even with the backlash, Joseline did not issue an apology until after making fun of the situation. Originally, she did not state that she felt bad for any of her actions. Instead, she took to Twitter and antagonized those who were coming to speak out on her and make fun of the situation. Some of her fans stood with her, while others did not find her humorous. Assuming her team took notice of this, a response finally came out and since the incident Joseline has deleted her Instagram. However, her original tweets about beating up her cast-mates are still up. As of more recent Joseline also announced that she would be parting ways with Zeus and taking her show elsewhere.
Joseline is not The Only One
Joseline’s behavior should not be excused. However, she is not the first woman to showcase black women in this toxic light. Shows like The Real Housewives, Love & Hip Hop, and so many more use their platforms to promote this behavior. The sad part is a lot of the viewership comes from not only grown women but young girls. Parents and schools can push that this is not ideal behavior but if TV shows continue to put this type of content out, what else is there to look up to?
” 2011 Girl Scout Research Institute study of more than 1,000 11- to 17-year-old girls found that those who said they regularly watched reality TV did “accept and expect a higher level of drama, aggression, and bullying in their own lives as well.
Christensen, Jen. “Our Unhealthy Love of Reality TV Bullying.” CNN, Cable News Network, 28 Feb. 2013, https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/health/reality-tv-bullies/index.html.
A Step Closer to ending It
Due to the unfortunate events that transpire from bullying, people have gone as far to boycott some TV shows and networks. They realize how detrimental the damage can be. With all the efforts that continue to stop bullying, we still need to make it our mission to empower other women. When it comes to getting ahead in life, we are stronger together than apart. Hopefully, with all the issues between Joseline and her castmates, the situation can be settled peacefully. Maybe we can even see Joseline fulfill her original intentions with the show. Either way, we only hope that it’s positive.
What are your thoughts on reality TV portraying women in this light? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
