Blog 10

Alessandra Bisconti

April 10, 2015

Blog post 10

Douglas Chapter 7

            Susan Douglas discusses how women are affected and portrayed on reality TV in chapter 7 “Reality Bites” of her novel The Rise of Enlightened Sexism. Overall, my mind was challenged because what I considered the norm of reality TV has so many more negative effects of women in society than I had realized. Every point made by Douglas I agreed with completely and she put words into my thoughts that I had not discovered I had before. Since I am familiar with all of the examples she uses, I could clearly see that we held a common ground on the impact they had on women. Douglas broadens on the idea of why exactly we sit there and watch the shows-what makes these shows run? Basically, it comes down to the fact that people want to watch drama, fights, and chaos unfold on the screen; it’s entertaining! With this idea, the people who star on the shows reluctantly get trapped, by choice or not, into playing the role that the show requires. Women are either catty, bitchy, demanding, or controlling. Shows like the Kardashians, My Super Sweet Sixteen, and The Bachelor all exemplify the poisoning of women’s images that is occurring in reality TV.

            The difference of male and female portrayal in reality TV is also evident. Males take on the traditional roles of being the leader and controlling over the females actions whether it be physically or literally. Women are all shown as dramatic and ultimately crazy; most pf the time they are screaming or acting violent. If a male was to become physically violent that’s just what men do-they are tough and they fight. Women are shown as trashy when they are being ripped apart from each other by male security guards. Also another interesting point-notice how the shows are fully prepared with buff security for when the females fight. The women are directed into situations that foreshadow a bad ending.

            So why do we continue to watch reality TV, if it is everything but realistic? Ultimately, it boils down to entertainment. We want to watch unrealistic and crazy things because it brings excitement to our lives. The shows are only concerned about getting their ratings up. This is achieved by soiling positive and empowering images of women. There is no escaping it, reality TV categorizes women. If you are a young teen, you must be a stuck up spoiled brat. Or pregnant. If you are a black woman, you clearly have a temper problem and scream at any chance you have. And for all the women left, society expects a dramatic image or action.