Wendy Osefo excuse me, Dr. Wendy Osefo, Ph.D. is smart.

Not just because of her famed four degrees . Or because of her careers in political punditry, academia and now hosting with her new YouTube show . But because shes done the work. Shes a dutiful daughter of Nigerian heritage, and literally wrote the book on it . Its why her choice to not just enter but stick it out in Bravos Real Housewives of Potomac engaging in what I call high-stakes femininity (more on that later) is so interesting.

The popular show, now in its eighth season, follows the lives of well-connected women in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area (a.k.a., the DMV). This current season has taken a turn for the ridiculous as Osefo has begun to butt heads with the shows newbie and sole other Nigerian-American cast member, Nneka Ihim, who inserted a problematic storyline involving voodoo, implied witchcraft and shrines that has dragged on for more than five tiresome episodes.

The viewers mostly hate it .

Shamira Ibrahim, who recaps the series for Vulture, summed it up like this, All of this is very disappointing, and I am not looking forward to seeing it continue to play out.

But none of this was new for Osefo.

[Before joining Housewives,] I was under the impression that these people knew they had these issues, and it was exposed, said Osefo in an interview with HuffPost. What I didnt know was if you dont have issues, one will be created for you.

For Osefo, rumors on gossip blogs became storylines, no matter how flimsy: from made-up murmurs about her husband having a side baby to accusations that same husband was flirting simply because hed smiled at people, thus earning him the title Happy Eddie.

(A good sport, Osefo and her husband laughed off these allegations, and then turned the moniker into brand of marijuana hes selling .)

Gossip of the real and mythological kind is currency on RHOP in the same way it was at your local high school, where the popular clique is scrutinized by both the plebes and each other. In fact, think of how in high school, things like good grades or punctuality may not have been valued very much, but things like having a boyfriend, a hot body, and the latest designer digs did. This is the junior varsity version of high-stakes femininity.

Meanwhile, the housewives are players in the pro football network of traditional (or retrograde) feminine values and practices. Think of femme personhood reduced to its most basic, oft stereotypical tendencies. Jealousy. Cat fights. Shade . (Or good ol fashioned insults.)