The tension has been building all season long in the friendships on The Real Housewives of New York City. The focus has been on Ubah Hassan's efforts to find out which of the women in the RHONY circle can be trusted and which ones are "pigeons" running around stirring up trouble with false narratives and twisted words. All season long, no matter where the ladies gather, Ubah has been there to nitpick their behavior.
With the building tensions between Ubah and her cast mates, she has had several justifiable outbursts this season. With Ubah's outrage being such a powder keg on the reality series, and her one time friend Brynn Whitfield happily fanning the flames, there hasn't been much space for reflection from the other women on what their exasperated friend has been trying to say this season. Ubah is tired of being spoken over, of being baited, of being forced into fake friendships when she has realized she cannot trust everyone around her. As Ubah and Brynn's knock-out fight brings the season to a close, it is already clear that one person in particular continues to evade responsibility when it comes to stirring up trouble in the group. She isn't the loudest person in the room, but it's because her moves are so stealthy that Erin Lichy gets away with being a secret Karen on the series, who has yet to face responsibility for causing the friend group to become so fractured.
Erin Exhibits Unconscious Karen Behavior
Garcelle Beauvais accused her co-star Dorit Kemsley of showcasing "unconscious Karen behavior" at the Season 13 reunion of The Real Housewives of Beverly HIlls, which she explained meant living in a bubble without being aware of the privilege that comes with being a white woman in America. Although it isn't Garcelle's job to educate the masses, it is in moments like these that it is clear why representation is so important in cultural artifacts, even on reality TV shows. Though just as viewers aren't always receptive to receiving information about inclusion and diversity, occasionally neither are certain cast members, if Ramona Singer is an example of anything.
There are several instances that demonstrate Erin also lives in this white privilege "bubble" that Garcelle was talking about, where she behaves in a way that allows her to get away with creating chaos while being shielded from taking responsibility. Being an uptight white woman in America has always come with certain privileges, especially for those who continue to align themselves with outdated patriarchal conservative belief systems and political organizations. Erin received a lot of backlash online when it was revealed that she had donated to Donald Trump's "Stop the Steal Campaign" through WinRed, the Republican Party's Political Action Committee. Erin released a statement unequivocally declaring that she did not deny the outcome of the 2020 election, but her statement in no way denied donating to the campaign.
In Season 15, Erin shared her story about having received an abortion when she was in her first year of college, and it was a touching tribute to the importance of the Supreme Court's choice to overturn Roe v Wade. But, having donated to the Republican Party, who are largely responsible for overturning the decision in this landmark case, is an example of this unconscious Karen behavior. Erin can, on the one hand, look good and come across as a liberal advocate for abortion rights in an article for Glamour magazine, while also breezily glossing over her support of the political party that revoked them.
Erin Is More of a Karen Than She Understands
The Real Housewives of New York airs every Tuesday on Bravo and can be streamed on Peacock.
