Given that West Hollywood, it’s not that surprising that there are some issues with the series that haven’t aged well. Just like with many other Bravo television shows, there have been many controversies on the show and many characters that behave in ways that shock fans.
While the scandalous nature of this kind of series and over the top cast are what attract viewers, there are definitely some problematic aspects of the series that haven’t aged well.
The way Billy Lee was used by the show
There really aren’t that many LGBT+ cast on the show, but one of the few was Billy Lee who is a transgender woman. While having her on the show was a smart move, it seemed like she was just used by Lisa Vanderpump and Bravo to make the series look more progressive.
She was often trotted out in scenes to talk about her story as a transgender person, but she quickly was taken off the show. She definitely deserved better than that.
There are many double standards for women versus men
One of the big problems on Vanderpump Rules is one that many reality television shows have. There are often many double standards for the women when compared to the men, and these attitudes are promoted by both the way things are filmed and the cast themselves.
While many of the cast have done things like slept around or cheated on partners, the men often get away with it more than the women. Kristin, for example, was much more vilified for sleeping with Jax than Jax was for sleeping with her.
There is a ton of slut-shaming
This next point goes more into the idea of double standards and the way women are treated on the show. There is a ton of slut-shaming that goes on towards the women, but it’s not just the men that do this. In fact, many of the female cast are the most likely to participate in this.
Katie was extremely judgemental of Lala Kent when she first ed the show. She called her many names related to the fact that she was more open about her sexuality and body.
It doesn’t address issues of alcoholism and addiction in a healthy way
For anyone who watches the show, it becomes clear that many of the cast have struggled with alcohol use. While in more recent seasons some cast have opened up more about this, the way other cast react hasn’t been great. Lala was the first to address her issues with alcohol addiction, and James’ struggles with substance abuse have become a major storyline.
However, in earlier seasons, people like Scheana clearly didn’t understand substance issues, and she told her husband Mike Shay to try to drink only a little.
People are called names based on their weight
All of the cast on Vanderpump Rules are rather conventionally attractive people. So, while Katie might not be as thin as some of the others, the fact that she has been called names because of her weight hasn’t aged well. James especially called her names, but even Lala participated in this.
Body shaming people in this way definitely doesn’t make those who say these things look good. It’s definitely something that is unfortunate to see. Jax also regularly body-shamed his own girlfriend and called Brittany unattractive because she gained some weight.
There is a lot of infidelity
One of the reasons why people like to watch shows like Vanderpump Rules is because there is a lot of relationship drama between the cast . The cast of this series is rather notorious for sleeping around and cheating on one another, especially in earlier seasons.
While this might make for good television at times because of the drama, the fact that people like Jax are serial cheaters, and don’t get called out much for it, is rather troubling.
The cast often have very sexist attitudes
Given that most of the cast are millennials living in a big city, it’s surprising how many old-fashioned attitudes they have about gender. While some of the cast are more about equality, especially people like Ariana, others, such as Jax, hold sexist attitudes.
There have been many times where it’s implied that women should be the ones to do things like take care of a home or cook dinner, and this doesn’t seem like a great look for a modern show.
Despite its location, there are very few actual LGBT people
The location of the series, especially in earlier seasons, is West Hollywood. This area is known for being rather progressive for LGBT rights and having a large queer community. Given this fact, and that Lisa so often s LGBT+ rights and wants that community to her business, this seems very odd.
While in later seasons cast like Ariana and new cast member Dayna have come out as bisexual, there should be more LGBT people. Having at least one queer male cast and featuring a queer relationship makes sense, and it’s really outdated that this hasn’t happened, especially since Bravo is run by a gay man.
There are a lot of unhealthy, borderline abusive relationships
While the relationship drama on the series might be interesting to watch, sometimes it goes too far. There are many toxic and unhealthy relationships, and even worse, there are a couple that seems nearly abusive.
The way James and Kristin treated each other was abusive, and the way James has been treating Raquel has been verbally abusive, too. Jax also borders on being quite manipulative and angry, and Tom and Katie have a rather volatile relationship, too.
There are no people of color in the main cast
One of the most shocking and outdated things about Vanderpump Rules is how little people of color there are on the show. While Faith Stowers was briefly on the show, she never became a permanent cast member.
There have been a few other background characters, such as the manager at Pump, who are people of color, but for some reason, none of them are ever really brought onto the cast. The entire main cast is all white people, and this hasn’t aged well at all.