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EDUC 318
Introduction
The production of reality television (TV) is growing continuously since Candid
Camera (1948 as cited in Holmes & Jermyn, 2004) was first produced in 1948. The
fact that reality TV is cheaper to produce than dramas and comedies is good news to
producers. This happens partly because there are no expensive professional stars
salaries to be paid during the production (Brown, 2005). The growing popularity of
reality TV among viewers has resulted to increasing competition among television
networks. To fulfil viewers demands as well as increase networks profit, numerous
types of reality shows are produced such as dating, law enforcement, makeover,
documentary style, talent searches, spoofs and reality game show.
The unscripted scenes of reality shows are sometimes scenes that are partial
truth or taken out of context due to editing processes. Editing processes start from
the beginning until the last minute before these shows are aired and the images that
appear on TV are solely the decisions of the editors and producers. The participants
in reality shows have no control over how they are being portrayed and a lot of them
are women who choose to be there. The female participants in reality shows are
commonly subjected to negative judgements by the viewers as fame seekers and
gold diggers. Some of the participants behaviours or language use might not reflect
who they are. This is further supported by Brown (2005) who said that she was
frequently surprised to see how the people whom she had known on set had been
portrayed on TV as they lacked colour and depth.
This leads to the question of what is real in reality shows. Although teenage
viewers are aware that things are not as they seemed, they become avid fans of this
genre especially young girls. Some of them even go to the auditions to be the
participants of these shows. According to Hiltbrand (2004), one of the reasons why
reality shows perform well with young viewers is because they present issues of
relationship and rejection which resonate with them. Like most viewers, these
teenagers do not watch TV through a critical eye and they are being exposed to
biased gender portrayal especially towards the female sex.
Literature Review
A few studies have been done to ascertain how women are being portrayed on
different types of reality shows. Martinez-Shephard (2006) conducted a study to
examine the representations of American women which include Caucasians, African
Americans, Hispanics and Asians in prime time reality shows in the United States of
America (USA). Martinez-Shephard (2006) found out that the minority women like
African American, Hispanic and Asian are underrepresented and when represented,
they are negatively depicted. For example, in the many seasons of The Apprentice,
only one season features an African American and one season features a Hispanic
woman. The African American woman is depicted as problematic while the Hispanic
woman is depicted as less intelligent compared to others (Martinez-Shephard, 2006).
This finding should be treated seriously although is conventional.
On the other hand, Lupica (2006) looked at the first reality show that achieved
number one in rating in the USA which is Survivor. Lupicas (2006) research aims to
look for stereotypes of women. The data collected are the entire episodes in Survivor
resulting to her extensive and detailed findings. The findings are categorised into four
major themes; negative characteristics, positive characteristics, playing the game
and survival (Lupica, 2006). One interesting finding is that the women of the island
could disregard their femininity for a more prominent aspect of life. For example they
are not concern with their appearance at all because the most important thing for
them at the moment is to survive (Lupica, 2006). It reinforces the fact that gender is
socially constructed and thus changeable.
Being in-residence psychologist in one of the popular reality shows has
motivated Brown (2005) to conduct an exploratory study of women portrayal on
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Research Design
The data collected for this research consist of four subgenres reality shows.
Different subgenres allow for a variety of data collection. Three episodes are chosen
for each show and they are watched through online streaming. They are Beauty and
the Geek Australia Season 1 (episode 1, 2 and 3), The Bachelor Season 15 (episode
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Are the moral standards expected of women higher than the men?
Occurrences that answered these questions are recorded while watching specific
episode. When the data have been fully gathered (all episodes have been watched),
the commonalities between the focus questions and its answers were filtered and
recorded for the second time leaving out the less significant questions.
Findings
Although the reality shows are of different types, they are all a form of
heteronormativity normalising and privileging the heterosexual relationships in the
society (Warner, 1993). None of homosexual relationships are portrayed. Male and
female participants are coupled together to go through challenges in Beauty and the
Geek Australia, a single man is given the privillage to date twenty five women in The
Bachelor and heterosexual marriages are portrayed in The Real Housewives of New
Jersey as well as Wife Swap.
The language used by the male characters to describe the female characters
is stereotypical and sometimes derogatory. In the final episode of The Bachelor,
Brads family favour Emily compared to Chantal because she is extremely sweet and
poise whereas Chantal is outgoing and adventurous. The first episode of Beauty
and the Geek already emphasises the stereotypical language and perception of
blonde women who relied on their looks rather than on intelligence. After introducing
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Her
dissatisfaction grows when her mother keeps nagging at her when she practices for
catwalk with the instructor. Finally she asks her instructor to send her mother out of
the room. This dispute is real to them however absurd it is for some people to think
that high heels can cause such dispute. The producers were probably pleased with
this turn of event. After all, what could be more dramatic than a quarrel between
mother and daughter?
In episode fourteen of Wife Swap featuring the conservative Cyboran family
and superheroes couple Owen-Ladino, Shanti Owens superhero costume is
critiqued by her swap husband because it is too revealing. She is asked to change
into what he considered a proper outfit which later creates a quarrel between the two
where they agree to disagree. This deliberate pick of extremely different personalities
by the producers is to create real stakes between participants in the show that can
make it more interesting to the viewers (Alexander, 2004).
Women as shallow individuals
The women in Beauty and the Geeks and The Real Housewives of New
Jersey are often depicted as shallow mainly concerning with their physical
appearance instead of other things. In Beauty and the Geeks, the female participants
are depicted as lacking language proficiency and general knowledge. For example, in
the first episode when Jenna appears in front of the camera for her interview, she
describes the other couples as her components instead of opponents. Although
there is a possibility that it is a slip of the tongue, this wrong word is repeated twice
like a broken record to emphasise her mistake. However uninformed one could be
about astronomy, it would be difficult to accept that there are people who do not know
the name of our planet. In episode three before the astronomy challenge, Elise asks,
Earth is another planet is it?
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and
communication,
not
July
nesessarily
14,
written
2011).
Thus
materials
(S.
conversations,
Sandretto,
personal
pictures,
posters,
advertisements, films and even reality shows can also be considered as texts.
Teacher could follow the same guideline of critical literacy suggested by Sandretto,
Tilson, Hill, Upton, Howland and Rae Parker (2006). According to Sandretto et al.
(2006), critical literacy classroom practice should involves supporting students to
become aware that:
texts are social constructions;
texts are not neutral;
authors draw upon particular discourses (often majority discourses) and
assume that readers will be able to draw upon them as well;
authors make certain conscious and unconscious choices when constructing
texts, which means that all texts have gaps or silences and particular
representations within them; and
texts then have consequences for how we make sense of ourselves, others,
and the world.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, sexism is still exist in the media as past studies has proven.
Regardless of the subgenre, reality shows are not spared from portraying women in a
biased way. The shows that have been analysed are Beauty and the Geek Australia
Season 1, The Bachelor Season 15, The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 2
and Wife Swap U.S.A Season 6. Three episodes from each show are analysed using
discourse analysis. All are a form of heteronormativity (Warner, 1993) normalising the
heterosexual relationships. None of homosexual relationships are portrayed. The
language used by the male characters to describe the female characters is
stereotypical and sometimes degrading.The dominant discourses associated women
in the selected reality shows are women as commodities, women as shallow,
emotional, materialistic and spiteful individuals as well as women as the ultimate
cooks, carers and cleaners.
We need a wider range of discourses for women in the media especially in
reality TV as there are different kinds of women in our society albeit the media
choose not to portray them. Members of the society should also bear in mind that this
issue is everyones concern not just the female population. This study is not
conclusive and sweeping generalisation cannot be made because there are a variety
of reality shows and genres produced from time to time to be considered. Adding to it
is the nature of this research and time constraint. This research is done to complete
the requirement of EDUC 318 Gender Issues in Education which is offered to 300levels University of Otago students in semester two 2011 and students are required
to conduct researches that require no ethical consent.
Reflective Commentary
EDUC 318 Gender Issues in Education made me to be more familiar with
feminism as well as the New Zealand education system. I learnt the history of
feminism which sprouted in the 1960s. I get to learn about the policy of New Zealand
Education and sometimes compare it with Malaysian education system. Theoretically
every curriculum is designed to meet the needs of its stakeholders. The inclusion
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References
Alexander, B. (2004). Reality TV is a dangerous art form. K. F. Balkin (Ed.), In Reality
TV: At issue (pp. 44-47). Michigan: Greenhaven Press.
Brown, L. S. (2005). Outwit, outlast, out-flirt? The women of reality TV. E. Cole & J. H.
Daniel (Eds.), Featuring females: Feminist analyses of media. Washington:
American Psychological association.
Buckingham, D. (2003). Media education: literacy, learning, and contemporary
culture. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Fleis, M & Levensen, L. (Producers).(2009).The Bachelor season 15. [Television
series]. Manhattan: ABC
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses (2nd ed.).
London: Falmer Press.
Hiltbrand, D. (2004). Teenagers identity with the issue presented in reality TV shows.
K. F. Balkin (Ed.), In Reality TV: At issue (pp. 55-57). Michigan: Greenhaven
Press.
Holmes, A. & Siegel, S. (Producers). (2010). Wife Swap U.S.A Season 6. [Television
series]. Manhattan: ABC
Holmes, S. & Jermyn, D. (2004). Understanding reality television. London:
Routledge.
Johnny L. (Producer). (2009). Beauty and the geek Australia season 1. [Television
series]. Sydney: Seven Network.
Lupica E. D. (2006). Survivor: A qualitative analysis of the portrayal of women.
Unpublished master dissertation, The University of Akron, Ohio.
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