Manipulation: to control (others or oneself) or influence skillfully, usually to one’s advantage” (thefreedictionary. com). This is what reality television manages to do to the world we live in today. Reality television in fact, is not always real. Many shows on television create a false sense of reality for their viewers. This influences people to think, act, and feel certain ways about others and the world around them.
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These reality television shows use stereotypes in many cases to continue to have an audience, and because people continue to watch these shows, these stereotypes are not only in television but they disseminate into
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On shows like these women are shown getting in something called “catfights” often.
These fights are over so many dumb things. Most of
Page 2 Reality TV Essay the time it is fighting over men. When viewers see things like this they begin to get the idea in their head that women are catty back stabbers. Pozner acknowledges the fact that “If millions of TV viewers believe that sisterhood is not powerful but spiteful, it becomes all that much harder for women to achieve any further social progress in America. ” (Pozner 108). Her point is that women need not let these shows affect them in the real world. Not only are women shown as backstabbers, but they are also shown as stupid.
Just about everyone today has had to herd of the saying “dumb blonde. ” This saying is influenced by reality television but not only for blondes, but for women in general. Pozner emphasizes on the fact that “Time and time again, we learn that the female half of the population is cringe-inducingly stupid. ” (Pozner 108). She continues to say, “In embarrassing scenes across unscripted subgenre, women are portrayed as ‘the dumber sex’” (Pozner pg. 109). Pozner also provides a great example from the popular show Bridezilla that mostly women watch.
It is a quote from the show that say’s “Thinking is a waste of time. Thinking is for people who have no brains” (Pozner 109). This is only one example, but it clearly proves that reality television is trying to get this idea into women’s heads and
Papacharissi and Mendelson (361) examine the notion of gratification among the audience watching reality television shows. They establish that apart from the one-off entertainment viewers get, they also gratify their psychological and social traits. Reality shows make use of ordinary people in doing extraordinary things such as surviving in harsh conditions, winning large sums of money, overcoming extreme fears among others. When ordinary people watch the actions of the participants, it becomes much easier for them to relate to them as their own representatives. Aslama and Pantti say that the shows resemble the political arena where the public vote in representatives to act on their behalf in the great stage of the nation (181).
T.V. shows are fun to watch. However, have you noticed that many T.V. shows have the same actors, in the same stereotypes, just because of how they look. But, have you noticed that many of these stereotypes have been taken to extremes? I believe that stereotypes in T.V. are unrealistic, and exaggerated. Stereotypes such as blondes being stupid, Nerds being weak, and awkward, and popular people being rude, all have been exaggerated by Hollywood to the point where it's unrealistic!
One can view Two and a Half Men as a parody of old-fashioned gender roles, but in many ways the series still cements some of the outdated views on women. As I do not feel that Two and Half Men accurately depicts gender and sex in the United States on the average, however the show reflects, even though exaggerated, somewhat the idea that women are supposed to be beautiful and for males pleasure. As the saying goes, one cannot be “too rich or too thin”. (Henslin, 2012, p.
Television networks are continually expanding their programming slates, and many in the past have switched to a year-round programming schedule that makes the phrase “summer return” basically absolute. On every channel, in every magazine, every darken theater, we see the way pop culture limits women’s role- girlfriends, victims, hookers, corpses, sex bombs, and “teases,” but why? Television, for most women, was the first place where they were able to visually see themselves represented. And for quite a while, they didn’t see much besides the loving wife, the dutiful daughter, gossiping girlfriends, fashion models, and the occasional maid, granny, or nanny. In Where the Girls Are: Growing Up
Thus, the dumb blonde is an extreme version of the “dumb woman” and “sex object” stereotypes”(Shifman, 20).In making
Reality show characters are often shown in embarrassing situations and their personal matters are publicized to the world. The research found that frequent viewers of reality TV highly value revenge, competition, and achieving status and prestige (Mendible, 2004, p. 336). Mendible further discussed reality television’s strategic use of humiliation as a form of entertainment to draw in viewers (Mendible, 2004). With constant exposure to media images, audiences may be influenced by the television show’s values and subliminal messages. People use reality television as an informational tool to “people watch” and observe what is socially acceptable or not (Tyree, 2011, p. 397). The problem with using television to observe and decipher social norms with is that reality shows are not actually based on real events.
The negative stereotypes that are shown among viewers in reality television shows are black women. The capitalism and consumerism makes headway, since many people are watching these reality shows, which creates high ratings and cast members are getting paid; for acting out which formulate viewers to make stereotypes about black women that can be humorous to the audience (Skeggs, 2005). Cultural capital is becoming increasingly significant in making workers more 'enterprising' more valuable, in terms of giving people more of a capacity of internalizing who are the people that are acting “abnormal.”
What once started as every day, regular people appearing on television shows have now morphed into celebrities and want to be celebrities competing for attention and doing almost anything to receive it on primetime television. The genre of television, which was once jumpstarted by the appeal of relatable people, who could be the viewers’ next door neighbors, being featured has since disappeared and been replaced by a monstrosity that does not accurately portray reality and often stereotypes people (Huff). One specific group that has been targeted by what reality television has morphed into is women. The new version of reality television is specifically adequate at encouraging gender culture, the set of behaviors or practices associated with masculinity and femininity (Huff). Reality television enforces gender roles and negatively impacts feminism in today’s society. Reality television sexualizes women, portrays them as dependent on and less superior to men, and exemplifies them as dramatic, catty, and often only as homemakers. The portrayal and stereotyping of women on reality television is demoralizing and can be described as “the contemporary backlash against feminism” (“Reality TV”). These false and demeaning stereotypes are prevailed in all types of reality television shows, making their impact extensive, considering Americans spend one-third of their spare time watching television and of that time sixty-seven percent is spent watching reality television (“Reality
The origin of this misogynist identity crisis can be traced back to television programs such as “Miss America,” “Two and a Half Men,” and “The Bachelor” which portray women unfairly. Young girls who view these shows then grow up comparing themselves to supermodels on these programs and develop a sense of identity that is completely distorted; this method of constructing a false identity is known as the social comparison theory (Russello 2013 4). This theory is especially important in proving the cause and effect relationship between television and problems within American society because it proves that what we watch on television influences who we become. An example of social comparison is given in the quote, “Researchers have…discovered that those who used social comparison were more affected by exposure to the thin-ideal and therefore had more weight concerns, more body dissatisfaction, and lower self-esteem (Bessenoff, 2006; Botta, 2003; Posavac & Posavac, 2OO2)”
What does a blonde do when her laptop computer freezes? She sticks it in the microwave. We have all heard the dumb blonde jokes that are now the vast majority of jokes told. Media has branded the blonde as what the world knows to be the archetype of the “dumb” girl. Today a member of society is judged on his/her looks, personality, and money.
Does reality Tv promote harmful stereotypes? The live television changed, and people are too. The way that Tv supports dangerous stereotypes is by bad shows, uncensored words, and drama.
Television is a powerful influence in determining the roles of men and women in society. Throughout the history of television, the representation of women as the housewife, mother and subservient woman has changed to a working, powerful and dominant female of today’s culture. In early television, during the 1950s and 60s, the female characters were depicted as submissive towards and dependent on the more assertive male characters. While the male characters were depicted differently in diverse roles, the female characters always played the same submissive role of mother, wife, daughter or girlfriend. As time progressed, the roles of women in television or sitcoms have been evolved into a more authoritative, independent, and non-reliant on men.
Manipulation is used in nearly every endeavor encountered throughout an average day. It is used in things ranging from day to day commercials all the way to political campaigns. Leaving any person with access to the world vulnerable to manipulation. Webster dictionary defines manipulation as , “to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one 's own advantage”. Commonly, things such as a physical state, relationships, mental state, and innocence and humanity do not survive due to the manipulation of outward forces (environment, role model, and incentive).
The concept of reality television has been around since the late 1990’s, starting with the first of it’s kind, Survivor, premiering on CBS in 1999. Viewers loved the “authenticity” that the show provided, and as a result, reality TV (RTV) became a mainstay of prime-time television. Currently, there are more than 320 contemporary RTV shows that occupy the television screens of thousands of individuals.
After reading article one, Why Reality TV Doesn’t suck, and May Even Make Us Smarter, I can say I fully agree with this article. The writer of this article is Grant McCracken, an anthropologist who has studied American culture and business for over two decades. “Reality TV is often perceived as a “vast wasteland.” People say it’s uncouth, desperate, and lawless.” (McCracken 1). The start of Reality TV started when regular television just became plain boring, writers wanted to make a story for viewers to watch that was unpredictable. Reality TV can be manipulated by producers and still no one quite knows where things will end up. This makes Reality shows interesting and sometimes even maybe uncomfortable for some viewers. Grant McCracken says, once people believe what is true about themselves we can begin to figure out what’s really going on in this culture. In this case, the surface says, “Reality TV is a dumbing down.” But the secret says “not always.” Sometimes, Reality TV contributes to smartening up (2). I can relate to this statement because whenever I watch Reality TV shows like, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, I see how