Reality Distortion Thesis
REALITY TELEVISION AFFECTING REALITY
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
MASTER OF ARTS in COMMUNICATION by JULIE TEFFETELLER
DECEMBER 2009 at THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AT THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Approved by:
Dr. Jenifer E. Kopfman, Thesis Advisor
Dr. Merissa H. Ferrara
Dr. Vincent L. Benigni
Dr. Amy T. McCandless, Dean of the Graduate School
UMI Number: 1473049
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
UMI 1473049
Copyright …show more content…
(p. 197)
The heavily edited nature of these types of reality shows is a key contribution to the distortion of certain social constructs and the perpetuation of common stereotypes. For example, in order to create a particular type of character, such as a vain and dispassionate female contestant, the editors may choose to only show the video clips of that female when she is looking at herself in the mirror or doing her makeup. Truthfully, she may only look in the mirror twice a day, but if the show only airs once a week, that gives the editors a least fourteen video clips to work with. This female contestant could be the most engaged and intelligent person on the show, but the audience members will not perceive that if all they see is a video montage of her in front of the mirror. There are a few scholars who have studied these edited components in reality television, but they have not looked at how these components impact social constructs.
Patkin (2003) expounds on the unrealistic aspects of reality television by exploring the creation of a show through the placement of particular individuals in …show more content…
Lifestyle Change
Fairclough (2004) focuses on the representation of the female gender in the show
Wife Swap. She claims that the men are often an afterthought in the show, while “the female participants are often represented as “pushy, domineering or stupid” (p. 345). She states that the show accomplishes this by showing only selective and dramatic clips that attract the audience’s attention while highlighting the most negative aspects of the families’ interactions. According to Fairclough, the show simply reinforces the belief that women should play the role of caretakers and homemakers, and women cannot be a successful mothers and businesswomen at the same time. Fairclough concludes by accusing the show of being “decidedly unconcerned with how gender is negotiated, contested, and reconfigured across media forms” (p. 346).
11
Matheson (2007) offers a different perspective about the show Wife Swap. She claims that the show intentionally distorts both traditional gender roles, the man as the provider and the woman as the caretaker, due to its presentation of atypical families as conventional examples of a societal norm. She also argues that the show
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
MASTER OF ARTS in COMMUNICATION by JULIE TEFFETELLER
DECEMBER 2009 at THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AT THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Approved by:
Dr. Jenifer E. Kopfman, Thesis Advisor
Dr. Merissa H. Ferrara
Dr. Vincent L. Benigni
Dr. Amy T. McCandless, Dean of the Graduate School
UMI Number: 1473049
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
UMI 1473049
Copyright …show more content…
(p. 197)
The heavily edited nature of these types of reality shows is a key contribution to the distortion of certain social constructs and the perpetuation of common stereotypes. For example, in order to create a particular type of character, such as a vain and dispassionate female contestant, the editors may choose to only show the video clips of that female when she is looking at herself in the mirror or doing her makeup. Truthfully, she may only look in the mirror twice a day, but if the show only airs once a week, that gives the editors a least fourteen video clips to work with. This female contestant could be the most engaged and intelligent person on the show, but the audience members will not perceive that if all they see is a video montage of her in front of the mirror. There are a few scholars who have studied these edited components in reality television, but they have not looked at how these components impact social constructs.
Patkin (2003) expounds on the unrealistic aspects of reality television by exploring the creation of a show through the placement of particular individuals in …show more content…
Lifestyle Change
Fairclough (2004) focuses on the representation of the female gender in the show
Wife Swap. She claims that the men are often an afterthought in the show, while “the female participants are often represented as “pushy, domineering or stupid” (p. 345). She states that the show accomplishes this by showing only selective and dramatic clips that attract the audience’s attention while highlighting the most negative aspects of the families’ interactions. According to Fairclough, the show simply reinforces the belief that women should play the role of caretakers and homemakers, and women cannot be a successful mothers and businesswomen at the same time. Fairclough concludes by accusing the show of being “decidedly unconcerned with how gender is negotiated, contested, and reconfigured across media forms” (p. 346).
11
Matheson (2007) offers a different perspective about the show Wife Swap. She claims that the show intentionally distorts both traditional gender roles, the man as the provider and the woman as the caretaker, due to its presentation of atypical families as conventional examples of a societal norm. She also argues that the show