Gloria Steinem hates it – but is The Real Housewives secretly a feminist triumph?

False bosomed' floozies, or the brainiest of businesswomen? As Brian Moylan explains in an extract from his new book, the reality juggernaut might be more subversive than you think

The Real Housewives is one of the biggest and glitziest reality franchises on TV. But just who are its many stars; how much money do they make; which of the international offshoots, from Hungary to Cheshire, are worth watching - and how much of it is real?

In an extract from his new book, The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives, Brian Moylan explains why some feminists love the series, why others hate it and what it really says about race and class in the US today.