Reality TV has become a cultural phenomenon. With the increased number of shows since the early 2000s, reality television continues to capture wide audiences, especially women. Reality TV has received arguably the most criticism for over-dramatizing and making up storylines, but there is something very troubling about it that we are not talking about enough– the negative ways in which it portrays women.
In the documentary Miss Representation, Jennifer Pozner who is the executive director of Women in Media and News says that, “Reality TV is the contemporary cultural backlash against women’s rights.” Ok, so this statement seems extreme at first, but let’s take a look at the evidence.
Think about the last reality TV show you watched. Now, just think about the roles that the women on that show played. Quite often we isolate the roles and portrayals of women that we are viewing on our screens, but there is a huge discrepancy between what we are watching and reality.
Shows like The Bachelor, The Real Housewives, Bad Girls Club, Dance Moms, America’s Next Top Model, Vanderpump Rules, and Total Divas are a few of the most popular shows that tend to misrepresent women. When you look at all of these shows together in one list, it is easy to realize what they all have in common– women fighting, arguing, and tearing one another down—sometimes literally.
And for what? Often over the attention of a man, having the highest social status, or proving that they are the most beautiful. These reasons are simply not good enough. They are shallow, irrelevant, and unimportant to the value of women as human beings.
We should be watching women empower one another instead of tear each other down. By watching these shows that paint women in such a negative light, I fear that we are supporting and contributing to the stereotypes that they perpetuate.
Setting everything aside, yes, these shows can be entertaining. We get to experience a little drama and excitement without having to actually experience it in our own personal lives. But, with so many other options for television viewing where women are not showcased as negative stereotypes, getting a little drama elsewhere is not too difficult.
Maybe you never thought about how women are portrayed negatively on reality TV, or perhaps you have but didn’t feel it was important enough to change the channel. But next time you go to watch a reality TV show in which women are negatively portrayed, consider asking yourself a couple of questions. Are these women and their behavior representative of me as a woman? Do their actions empower me as an individual? Do their actions empower me to empower other women? If your answer is “no” to any of these questions, it might be time to kick your reality TV habit.