Let’s get something straight right off the bat.  I’ve never been a fan of the show, American Idol.  In fact, it wasn’t until midway through last season that I gave in and began watching it because my wife is hooked on the show and the household conversations were becoming overwhelmingly Idol-focused.  It was inescapable.

So I am embarrassed to report that, yes, I succumbed.  This season, I have watched the show every week, from the cruel, exploitive auditions to this past week’s show which revealed the top 3 vote-getters.

It is that last term that is the crux of the problem with American Idol: vote-getters.  Now, I realize what I am about to say is subjective, but there can be little doubt that the most talented performer in this year’s competition was 17-year-old Allison Iraheta.  For a person so young to sing with such range and such power, and such mature emotion is truly phenomenal.  It is indisputable that Ms. Iraheta has more singing talent than the combined talent of three remaining young men --- Danny Gokey, who shamelessly exploits the death of his wife for attention and sympathy from voters, the public, and potential dates; Adam Lambert, who admittedly is a talented individual, albeit one that can’t seem to expand his repertoire beyond aimless ad-libbing in a falsetto voice, and Kris Allen, riding a wave of revenge-minded David Archuleta fans seeking to avenge the loss of their cutey pied-piper to cougar favorite David Cook last year.

Yet, there we were, watching her video collage with her while “Home, Sweet Home” played and she made her way off the stage for the last time.

So why did Allison get voted off while these three wannabes continue to compete?  Ironically, the answer lies in her gender .  No, it isn’t the traditional story of girl being turned away by the boys club.  She was betrayed by girls and middle-aged women who make up the vast majority of voters and have the power to determine the fate of each contestant.  These two groups should have been her most ardent supporters.  Instead, they killed off one of their own.

That’s right, the daughters and granddaughters of the feminist revolution are betraying the very movement that has empowered them their entire lives.  Each week, their opposable thumbs feverishly text the numbers that correspond to their favorite to-die-for Adonis, with each voter secretly hoping deep down that somehow the object of their affection will call to personally thank each person who voted for them and that the call will result in a happily-ever-after ending.  And with each text, a dagger is plunged into the backs of previous generations of women who endured the discrimination and harassment and the struggle for equality.

Lovesick teens, who have no recollection of their grandmother’s and great grandmother’s struggles, and their mothers, who gleefully choose to ignore those struggles in their quest to recapture their lost youth like all good cougars do today, are turning the American Idol process into a charity bachelor auction.  In doing so, they are hanging a sign on the door for future female Idol participants that reads, “Girls Not Allowed”.

Oh, I know there have been female winners in the past --- Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Fantasia, and Kelly Clarkson --- but the emerging trend is clear: teenyboppers and cougars run the show.  And they are two groups that have the capacity and willingness to vote and do so from the heart and the crotch.  That’s a lethal combo for future female hopefuls.

If next season’s voting continues this trend, don’t be surprised to see rule changes for the following season.  American Idol is in danger of being hijacked by its audience, one that is ironically unfriendly to its sisters on the stage.