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Misogyny and bias
Dancing with the Stars (2005- ) is a reality television series that has been on air since 2005. The series is composed of celebrities and ballroom dancing professionals who compete with a new style of ballroom dancing each week. Events this season have inspired discourse over comments made by the judges and the weighting of voting scores, which determines who is sent home at the end of each episode.
In season 35 there are three judges: Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough. Each week, the contestants are ranked on a scoreboard with their scores from the judges, then votes from the viewers are tallied to determine which contestant goes home. People online have been commenting on the bias for certain celebrities as well as inconsistent comments made by the judges compared with previous seasons.
Many outraged viewers were appalled by the results of the celebrities who went home leading up to “Superbowl Night.” One contestant, Guillermo Rodriguez—a comedian most well known for his work on the Jimmy Kimmel show—became notorious for scoring below average with the judges and performing for the fans. Rodriguez wasn’t eliminated from the competition until episode six, “Superbowl Night,” which sparked controversy with fans because every week that Rodriguez survived elimination, a dancer who scored higher and had more potential was sent home because they didn’t receive as many votes from the viewers.
Another elimination that sparked outrage among viewers was the elimination of Ciara Miller, an influencer and reality TV personality. In episode five, “Mariah Carey Night,” Miller received a score of 21 out of 30 as opposed to Rodriguez’s 13 out of 30. The root of Miller’s elimination controversy stemmed from her identity as a Black woman. Many viewers speculated that the reason for Miller’s early departure from the competition was due to her race and gender.
Parallels were drawn to a contestant from season 34, Andy Richter, who was also kept in the competition because of the votes of fans rather than his dancing capabilities, similarly to Rodriguez. These parallels show the misogyny that is often perpetuated in Dancing with the Stars (2005- ). Many viewers were not hesitant to call out the alleged misogyny and racism that led to her elimination despite her consistently improving scores and positive feedback from the judges.
There has also been controversy surrounding inconsistency within the judges’ critiques spanning across different seasons, but intensity of public response to those inconsistencies differs significantly depending on the judge in question. In the past, there have been severe reactions to critiques given by Carrie Ann Inaba in a way that is only seen when she gives feedback and not when her male co-judges do. Inaba is also often met with boos from the live audience—her response is often to say that she doesn’t care what the audience has to say. While there have been some instances of the audience reacting poorly to a critique that a male judge gives, the rate at which Inaba receives derision is much higher than her fellow judges.
This was evident in last week’s “Superbowl Night” episode, in which the contestants had to perform a ballroom dance to a song by an artist who had previously performed in a Super Bowl halftime show. Harry Shum Jr.—most well known for his work on Grey’s Anatomy (2005- ) and Glee (2009-2015) performed a samba with his partner Jenna Johnson and received a harsh critique from Inaba regarding an alleged lift in the dance. After the dance, when Inaba mentioned the lift she was met with some pushback from Johnson regarding whether or not the lift occurred was “legal” by ballroom dancing standards.
Inaba became hostile and recited the definition of a lift. Inaba’s hostile attitude was met with harsh criticism online that questioned her character. Clips of Inaba from a previous season resurfaced where she was scoring season 34 Mirrorball Champion Robert Irwin in which Inaba states, “Who cares about lifts? No more lift police. It’s over now! Bravo!” Inaba then proceeded to give Irwin a perfect score: 10 out of 10.
I do think that Inaba’s critiques of different celebrities are inconsistent and that they should all be held to the same standards. However, there were many harsh comments made online about Inaba, including some that threatened her with violence, which I believe is too far and should not be an outcome of her critiques, which are simply a part of her job description. The severity of responses to Inaba’s criticism are another representation of misogyny that is perpetuated. While her critique may have been harsh and maybe even unfair, Inaba’s male counterparts are never met with such severe responses to their critiques. The merciless responses to Inaba’s evaluations of dances play into the misogyny of being met with threatening comments and being viewed as “unlikeable” for simply stating her opinion.