RHONY’s Jessel Taank & South Asian Representation On TV

In the first two episodes of the new RHONY, I found Taank’s oblivious nature charming. After a weekend in the Hamptons, she called Lichy and De Silva “cackling hags” and then wrote it off as a harmless British idiom. She also told Lichy her neighborhood of Tribeca is “up-and-coming,” which is hardly the case considering Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Jennifer Lopez are a few of the celebs who call chic neighborhood home. And when Lyons gifted her a green satin slip, Taank said the lingerie made her look “like a Christmas tree” — clearly a self-conscious comment about her postpartum body and not a slight about the gift. The other Housewives, however, deemed her mysterious and secretive because they were unable to figure her out.