I haven't watched that many episodes of Millionaire Matchmaker (I'm more into Project Runway and Top chef. I'm such a TC fan.. But not of this season! I hated some of the calls they made...) but from what I can tell, Patti definitely has really old fashioned, traditional attitudes towards love and stuff. What most rubs me the wrong way about her is that she's always talking about how she wants to help people find true love, yet in the promo for the "millionairess" (which is a stupid word because millionaire is gender neutral!) she tells her to be "va-va-voom" and wear a push up bra. I can't remember anything else she's said that's a double standard but maybe I just haven't watched enough.

I want to punch her too- I'm trying to remember something she said that was particularly offensive and I can't remember what it is, although I thought this clip really highlighted it. "Nothing worse than to be a single mom" and "I want this child to have a father"- if she listened to her "client" for five seconds she'd fucking KNOW this kid already had a father! Geez!

I watched about two episodes of this show one afternoon when there was nothing else on and I was sort of sickly fascinated. In one episode Patti told the women auditioning for dates ("auditioning" might not be the right word, but its pretty descriptive of what was going on) to flat iron their hair or get extensions because "all men" want long hair they can run their fingers through. Women with short or curly hair were all but turned away. Women of all ethnic backgrounds and ages seemed to be held to the same standard of beauty: long, flowing hair (worn loose), skinny bodies, big boobs. She mandated what the women wore as well.

On the other hand, I liked some of the way Patti dealt with the bachelors. The ones I saw seemed very accustomed to getting their way and had a history of shallow relationships. Patti was very strict about her rules (no sex on the first date, for one - not that it's a rule I think everyone needs, but for her business it probably prevents her from running an expensive prostitution ring and makes the "Matchmaker" title more credible) Aside from the really superficial, unrealistic beauty expectations, she did try to figure out what kind of partner would be compatible. She took lifestyle, hobbies, and past relationship troubles into consideration. She also was harsh with the men, called them out when they were acting like assholes and attempted to make them act like gentlemen and get out of their comfort zone (when necessary to break a bad dating habit).

Overall the show disgusted me, particularly the way the women were treated like livestock at the county fair. Matchmaker Patti may have some redeeming qualities, but they aren't enough to make the show (or the business) palateable.

Patti Stanger is disgusting!

She's a total throwback to the 1950's - when every woman's "ambition" was to find a rich husband, quit her job and become a total Stepford wife.

She's a snob, a racist (she flipped out when she found out one of her clients lived in a Black and Latino neighborhood), an elitist, a social climber and an all around jerk.

And she's as far from feminist as Earth is from Pluto.

Is it weird that I daydream about being on that show and exploding into a dialogue of feminist rhetoric? I think that it would get edited out though. Patti is pretty unnerving, but sometimes it is the male millionaires that piss me off even more. Patti actually used the term "ageist," and I think that that describes a lot of the men who come to her. On that episode (the one that that clip is from) with the female millionaire and the male millionaire, she informed each one that the male would plan the date, even though it would be the woman who picked the male, in the case of the female millionaire. Of course, the two millionaires ended up getting together, so that never came into play. But good lord. It is like 1955.
Also, the things that some of Patti's female clients say is annoying. Many of them have mentioned that they want a man to take care of them, and obviously they are willing to be paraded around like show-horses to make that happen. If there weren't business for Patti, she would be out of a job. But where do these people come from? They are definitely products of a culture in which white privilege and classism prevails. It makes me sad.

Oh I SO want to punch her in the face! I cannot STAND her! Every single thing she says makes me cringe. This woman is completely disgusting and it's no wonder she's a spinster she's a serious asshole.