Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 April 2008 08:26:37
Last night I gave in and watched Young Mum's Mansion which is a programme about young lone parents and their children and about communal living.
BBC3's i-player describes it as a "social experiment in which ten single mums and their twelve children move into a mansion for four weeks to see if living together can improve their lives." The rest of us would call it reality tv and there are some who would, very probably, call it media exploitation.
So what did I, as a single mum make of it? Well, first off I felt good I was only a year older than the oldest of these "young mum's" - always nice to feel young, although I'm really not. So that was the first thing that I think grabbed me, in modern society our conceptions of what a young mum is are definately changing. The majority of people in the programme were mid 20's and as I say the oldest was mid 30's.
The episode last night was highlighting that singleness and lack of dating experience can have an impact on confidence and so got the women (and one single dad who had been introduced into the mansion) pole dancing and speed dating before having a dinner party and then sending a couple of them off on "dates". Apparently the pole dancing and speed dating thing was as an exercise to help them feel more confident. Not sure how the oldest one who "had issues" had her confidence boosted by (i) being put in a speed dating situation with a bunch of blokes who were way too young for her - as she said in that situation she'd be MILF material (M=mother) and (ii) being sat down with a sex counsellor because she just wasn't interested in the idea of sex. Whilst I don't have the same "issues" that she did as somebody who has been celibate and single for the whole of the current millenium it did give me an insight into how society sees me, (just incase I wasn't clear).
There was also an interesting take on sexuality when the non-hetero woman, (I use that term because it wasn't clear if she was self-identifying as bi or as a lesbian), met a bloke she at the time thought was "sweet" at speed dating. The whole thing again showed the problem society seems to have with people who don't fit in to simple boxes and the issues surrounding a woman wanting to form a friendship based relationship with a bloke without, necessarily, wanting to sleep with him.
It was in places quite a touching programme though, particularly where it showed the relationship the single dad had with his kids and how the children often come first.
As for the communal living bit, it went as expected; some pulled their weight and some didn't so it all got a bit fraught in places.
All in all a programme worth watching to not only get some insight into the issues facing lone parents and the fact we're normal people, but also to get insight into the attitudes and opinions in the society we live in. However, it is evening reality tv on an entertainment channel and so on that basis it's automatically going to be an exaggeration which puts the participants in situations which will take some of them way out of their comfort zones.
**PS Health warning (after Chas had left his comment) if you are not sure what MILF means don't look it up - it's a crude text language term relating to people who you fancy / would like to get intimate with.**