reality TV

Love and Surveillance: Dating Shows Channel More Than Reality

Illustration of two floating apartments in a purple and yellow gradient background, female figures in red swimsuits coming down the stairs from one apartment into the background.
by Imran Siddiquee
April 14, 2021 at 9:22am
Netflix released multiple reality TV shows in 2020 that feature beautiful people blissfully succumbing to the power of being watched.
Zac C, a white man with brown hair who is wearing a suit, poses beside Tayshia Adams, a Black woman with long, flowing hair and is wearing a white wedding gown, on The Bachelorette

Poisoned Rose: Why the “Cruel Optimism” of “The Bachelorette” Still Draws Us In

by Oliver Haug
January 20, 2021 at 2:17pm
In a time that’s more mediated than ever before, love is a contrived TV show for us all. Read more »
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Latinx woman with long, black hair, and wearing glasses, has a gray mask over her face

Go Low: The Time for Civility Is Over

by s.e. smith
October 9, 2020 at 12:41pm
We don’t pay our representatives to be scared, hiding behind the apron strings of civility. Read more »
Three rich looking white women wearing fancy dresses who all have blond hair and are arguing and looking stressed.

Polish and Privilege: “RHONY” Illuminates the Class Divide in America

by Rebecca Long
September 29, 2020 at 10:02am
Extreme economic disparity in America is the problem. RHONY just makes it visible. Read more »
Two wealthy-looking white women wear expensive dresses and walk outside.

If “Selling Sunset” Is One Big Happy Family, What’s with the Sexism?

by Lizzie Tribone
September 21, 2020 at 12:05pm
In Selling Sunset, once you join the family, you are free to pursue the golden dream–but that can come at a cost. Read more »
Daisy Coleman, a white woman with shoulder-length blond hair and a neck tattoo, looks at the camera

Trauma Fishbowl: Reality TV Is Costing Survivors More Than Privacy

by s.e. smith
September 10, 2020 at 9:00am
These events are a stark reminder of the price of fame. Read more »
Sima Taparia, an Indian woman with shoulder-length brown hair, stands in front of portraits of front of a series of Indian people on dates

Eugenics as Entertainment: “Indian Matchmaking’s” Lighthearted View of Caste Oppression

by Aditi Natasha Kini
August 4, 2020 at 11:00am
Indian Matchmaking reveals all the isms associated with arranged marriages—colorism, casteism, sizeism, ableism, and classism—without criticizing any of it. Read more »
Two people, both white, one man, one woman, stand laughing on a beach. They both have words written on them in paint.

“Too Hot to Handle” Is a Conservative Nightmare of a Reality Dating Show

by Erin Taylor
May 15, 2020 at 7:38am
The premise is simple: for the duration of the season, no one can have sex. Read more »
Madison Prewett, a white woman with long, light brown hair and blue eyes and a dark tan, speaks to another woman, who has her back turned.

She’s so Pure: “The Bachelor” Still Has a Virginity Problem

by Ilana Masad
March 5, 2020 at 2:04pm
Madison’s “purity” rhetoric illustrates a much broader, scarier problem with her virginity-focused narrative arc. Read more »
Carlton Morton, a Black man, wears a suit and a bow tie. He is bald and wears a serious expression while sitting on a couch.

“Love Is Blind” Shows There’s No Bisexual Boom for Black Men

by Rachel Charlene Lewis
February 27, 2020 at 12:12pm
Televison’s “bisexual boom” hasn’t yet reached Black men. Read more »
image of model with long, bright orange hair with a pixelated-looking face

The Lie That Feeds Our Ugly Fascination with Makeover Shows

by Dara Mathis
February 19, 2020 at 9:00am
How do you produce a show that purports to make women more beautiful—presenting them as undesirable as is—and still manage to preach self-love? Read more »

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