Big Brother 12 - The Women Need To Work Together

Big Brother 11 was my first exposure to the CBS Reality TV show where a group of diverse people move into a secluded house near Burbank, California.

I will confess I became completely obsessed with the BB11 Houseguests (HG) and enjoyed watching my favorite Showmance couple, Jeff and Jordan. Like most of America, I was pulling for Jeff and Jordan and was thrilled when Jordan won (sorry Kevin you were my also one of my favorites).

After BB11 ended I went back and watched all of the other previous seasons of BB. I'm sure I'm too old at this point to ever be a House Guest on Big Brother, but I have learned a lot after watching the previous Seasons 1-11 and I think as a result I would play the game differently than most.

What I don't understand is why the HGs don't go back and watch all the previous seasons before entering the house. If they do, I'm curious why don't they avoid the same game killing mistakes which happen in every season?

A recurring theme of Big Brother is that the men form alliances with each other, but the women turn on each other. Sadly this is exactly what happens in real life. Much has been written about this phenomenon in business, the social sciences and politics.

This tendency for women to attack each other, rather than working together to win, was vividly played out this week on Big Brother 12 when one of the strongest competitors in the house, Rachel, was unanimously voted out.

During the Power of Veto (POV) competition, Kathy, who previously was considered a weak competitor, deliberately targeted Rachel to knock her out of the game. When Kathy was successful in her quest she taunted Rachel to her face. Kathy showed a vicious side which tarnished her good girl reputation.

Whether you liked Rachel and her glaringly fake hair extensions, obnoxious laugh and Vegas persona or not, you had to admire her prowess during the Head Of Household and Power Of Veto competitions. She was definitely smart about some things, not so wise about others.

Her mistake? Not rallying the women together in a strong alliance and alienating them with her public display of affection for Brendon.

Rachel was a very strong competitor in the HOH games and Britney has been strong in POW. Monet was also very strong in the physical competitions. Annie was very intelligent and crafty. If those four women had joined together in a loyal team they could have taken out the rest of the house.

Instead, Britney and Monet, showed some heinous true colors when they spent all of their free time mocking and attacking Rachel behind her back, which of course she sensed. Annie and Rachel got into an early confrontation and Monet and Britney couldn't wait to vote her off the show. Then Monet became the target.

Even Kristen, who was a floater, couldn't survive when she and Rachel clashed. In every case, the women have been evicted as a result of their clashes with the other women in the house. The men are wisely letting the women tear themselves to shreds with their fighting, bitchiness, jealously and drama.

While Britney and Monet were busy making fun of Rachel, the guys were strategically joining forces to form a secret alliance. Hayden, Matt, Lane and Enzo created the secret brigade designed to carry all four of them to the end of the game. Not only has the alliance remained secret, it has been controlling the entire house.

It was interesting to see the farewell messages taped for Rachel. Hayden, Matt and Enzo were shrewdly complimentary to Rachel. Afterall, she's heading to the Jury House which means she will have a hand in their final fate since she has a vote in who wins the $250,000 prize.

Hayden, Matt and Enzo each had messages for Rachel which were fair, realistic and typical of males who compete with each other. Each message had an underlying tone of "no hard feelings, it's not personal, it's a game." Which is exactly how most men handle competitions, demonstrating good sportsmanship.

And Britney's message to Rachel? She took one last chance to slam Rachel for her hair extensions in a condescending tone which might or might not be considered humorous. In fact, Britney spent a lot of time making fun of Rachel behind her back to the other HGs. Why was Britney not spending her time and energy forming her own alliance or working on her own game?

It could be argued Britney has formed an alliance with Lane, except for the fact that Lane is using Britney's friendship to control her votes, according to the wishes of the Brigade. Although Britney initially was determined to evict Brendon from the house, Lane and the secret Brigade swayed her vote against Rachel, which was their strategic choice.

If I didn't find Matt's lies about his wife's illness as a strategy to get HG sympathy so slimy, I would completely respect his game plan. Ditto for Enzo who's not the strongest competitor or brightest bulb in the pack, but he understands how to team up with his brothers in order to win. Even Hayden, who unwisely had a showmance with Kristen, knows that having a strong team is how to win any type of game from sports to Big Brother.

If there is a common theme throughout all of the Big Brother seasons it's that the woman screw themselves over with their jealously, willingness to sacrifice themselves in showmance situations and wasted energy attacking the other women in the house.

It's not too late for the women to work together to pull out a victory. If Britney can form an alliance with Kathy, pull Lane out of the Brigade and get Ragan on her side, she might have a shot at winning. But if Britney and Kathy turn on each other, they will only weaken their positions further.

It will be interesting to see what strategies evolve as the game moves closer towards the end.

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