I watch my fair share of television shows that are my guilty pleasures. It never hurt anyone to watch Ace of Cakes or a little bit of Cougar Town. However, I can honestly say that I have never been so offended as I was by a television show I happened upon one day entitled “Bridal Plasty”. The show is a reality format in which a group of brides-to-be compete against each other for the prize of the cost of their wedding and various plastic surgeries. Each episode includes different challenges with the prize being the plastic surgery of their choice. When I turned on my television I was faced with two women waiting to see who would go to the final. The other finalist had already been chosen. Both women sat with bandages across their faces from recent rhinoplasty procedures, waiting to see if they would be able to receive the rest of the procedures on their “plastic surgery wish lists.” This show reinforces gender stereotypes that women need to look a certain way in order to be happy and successful in life. Like The Apprentice or The Weakest Link, where elimination is accompanied by, “you’re fired!” or “you are the weakest link, goodbye,” in Bridal Plasty, the host humiliates the loser by declaring, “Your wedding will still go on, it just won’t be perfect.” This leaves the viewer with the ridiculous final message that the only way a perfect wedding is achieved is through thousands of dollars of plastic surgery and wedding decorations. —M.A.K.