SHILPA: RACISIM IN THE BIG BROTHER HOUSE

I make no apologies for always watching Big Brother because generally I find it can be good fun and I find the whole thing of being able to see the private and public personas of other human beings absolutely fascinating.

Often, I find, the people who claim to detest such reality TV programmes do so because the idea of taking an interest in anyone but themselves is such an alien idea it makes them sweat.

But that is not to deny that sometimes I hate the program. I hate it because human interaction is interesting enough without the TV producers putting the housemates through various stressful situations and adding extra pressures. I find it an unnecessarily cruel. And I don't actually think it aids anything to my experience of the programme by giving the housemates only cold water to shower in, or starving them, or pitting them against each other in demeaning tasks.

Because human beings are quite capable of creating their own hell.

And at the moment housemate Shilpa Shetty is in a hell created by thicko "beauty" queen and sexual plaything to an ageing footballer Danielle ?, S Club 7 "I just want everyone to know that I am a nice person" Jo, and casual thug Jade Goody.

These three really quite nasty individuals have made a decision to use Shilpa as a target of constant verbal attacks and to isolate her from the group. They made this decision because they are the type of insecure, morally bankrupt females who want to hide within the dynamics of a group to protect themselves and their fragile egos. And one of the easiest and most effective ways to secure group bonding is to have a joint enemy - and this, through no fault of her own, they have created in Shilpa.

And the others, who smugly think of themselves as "getting on with both sides" watch as these three individuals continue their unjustified and sickening attack on a defenceless and hurting individual. And they do that because they are cowards. Were they to show too much favour to Shilpa, or were they to stand up to the group on her behalf, they would run the risk of becoming another of the group's target's. This they won't do. And this the group rely on.

Germaine Jackson offers fey words that amount to nothing more than "rise above it" and H from Steps goes into the diary room and bawls his eyes eyes because inexplicably Shilpa being victimised makes him feel sorry for himself. Cleo is the only housemate attempting pragmatic actions to ease the tensions in the house; comforting Shilpa whilst trying to remain influential with the group of bitches. But it is not enough.

And what makes it worse is that I feel there is an underlying racism regarding the attacks on Shilpa. The chicken incident. Danielle saying with a look of disgust on her face that perhaps Indians don't cook chicken the way that "we" do, and perhaps "they" are all ill "over there" all of the time, and perhaps that's why "they" are all so thin. I kid you not.

And Shilpa, used to having a high status, is at a loss as to know how to react. Having a high status in India she could afford to be personable and vulnerable in front of people, and this would generally be found to be endearing. However, that tack doesn't work here because the group of three have assigned her such a low status. Making herself personable and vulnerable in the Big Brother House just leads to her humiliation. Such as when she showed the group how she was bleaching her face. This, I understand, is quite a common thing for Indian women to do. But it lead to looks of disgust and nasty comments from the group about her having a beard and being "like a man". That can't have been comfortable viewing for other Asian women who were familiar with what Shilpa was doing.

And then there is the refusal by some, especially Jade's mother, to get the pronouncement of her name correct. Shilpa has sometimes been reffered to as "the Indian" and not in friendly tones.

I am shocked and ashamed that in 21st century Britain there are young urban individuals who are so oblivious to when a bitching session slips towards racism that they continue doing it on national TV. Danielle clearly has the sense of a two year old, but Jo and Jade I would have expected to understand that the racist slant of the group attacks is unacceptable, even before they realised they were unwarranted and cruel. Or perhaps they do realise, which is actually worse.

I hope when they leave the house that they get the smeared reputation and painful obscurity that they deserve.