Ed. note: This post is by Feministing’s awesome new social media intern, Dahlia Grossman-Heinze. You can follow her on Instagram @grossmad and on tumblr.

Confession: I love the Real Housewives franchise. I will watch every season of every zip code. I have favorites (Atlanta), but I’m faithfully committed to all of them, and I’ve watched them since the beginning. I know that I’m not doing my brain any favors by watching them, but I can’t help it—I love them.

Last week on Real Housewives of Orange County—the first in the franchise—Tamra Barney called her boyfriend a beaner. They were at a Mexican restaurant and Tamra’s boyfriend Eddie was putting particular care into pronouncing Spanish words correctly. Then Tamra said, “Eddie feels ...