Analyzing the gender roles placed upon society through media, such as reality television.

1. REALITY TV
& GENDER
ROLESTHE IMPACT OF REALITY TELEVISION
ON GENDER ROLES, EXPECTATIONS,
AND SOCIETY
By: Amber
Warner

2. An Introduction
The History of Reality Television & The Role It’s Played
 In Comparison to other Television
programs, reality TV has been around
for only a short period of time.
 Reality Television began with the
introduction of “An American Family”
in the 1970’s
 This sort of television originally
began as a way for viewers to see
more “real-life” content on television. Instead
of watching story lines, hidden
cameras were used so that viewers
could watch real people interact.
 Today, more than 50 percent of the
primetime television audience is tuned into a
reality TV show.
Short History of Reality Television Women in Reality Television
 Women are often portrayed to resemble
female stereotypes on reality television.
 Women are often presented as dependent
and subordinate to their male counterparts.
 Women are often portrayed as vain, catty,
or stupid in reality shows.
 Women are also usually younger and
more physically attractive than the men on
the same shows, which makes them appear
as sex symbols.
 In many of the competition or dating
shows, women are given less power or
are less represented than men.

3. Why Is It Important?
As viewers, we interpret reality television as the truth.

4. PERCEPTION
Why Does It Matter?
 Since 50% of the primetime television audience are tuned into at
least one television show, it’s important to consider the impact they
can have on not only the viewers, but society as a whole.
 The way in which women are portrayed in these television show
impacts the women who watch them. Viewers perceive these
women to be normal.
 The beauty standards of both men and women on reality
television impact what people think they should look like and how
they should dress.

5. DATING REALITY TELEVISION
How Does It Impact Gender Communication?
 Dating shows like The Bachelor and Bachelorette are some of the
most common reality shows. They are especially important to keep an
eye on because they set “norms” for how women and men should
communicate with one another. Obviously this sort of dating ritual with
multiple contestants is not seen as normal, but it gives off the idea that
there should be a power struggle in relationships.
 There has also been very few dating shows that feature homosexual
relationships, so these sort of shows normalize dating 20+ people
over a homosexual relationship.
 In Both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, the man in the
relationship proposes, despite women having the “power” on The
Bachelorette, which gives off the idea that men are the dominant one
in relationships.

6. Social Learning
How We Learn How to Act
 Social Learning theory “posits gender is a learned behavior, learned by observing, analyzing, and
modeling others” (Defrancisco & Palczewski)
 “Young girls tend to be rewarded for being polite, neat, emotionally expressive, and well behaved.
Young boys tend to be rewarded for being independent, emotionally controlled, and physically active.
The girls tend to develop feminine qualities and boys tend to develop masculine qualities”
 Media, including reality television plays a role in how people observe they should act. By watching
the men and women on these shows, viewers learn how they “should” act based upon their gender and
what is “normal”
What we already know

7. The Bachelor & Bachelorette
Analyzing the Gender
Norms of America’s
Most Popular
Dating Reality Show

8. Stereotypes on The Bachelor
The Common Edits to Represent Gender “Norms”
The show portrays upsetting stereotypes of femininity,
such as cattiness, weepiness, and a dependency on men.
Many of the women are edited to seem
overly emotional, jealous, possessive, or crazy.
Each season features one woman who is portrayed as the “villain”.
This woman is often edited to seem too aggressive, jealous, or emotional.
In Contrast, men villain’s on The Bachelorette will often be physically aggressive with the other men.

9. [Click Play to View Video]
In the video above, Corinne Olympios, one of the most famous “villains” from
The Bachelor confronts the other women on her season. From this short clip, it’s easy to see that
women are pitted against each other. The other women dislike Corinne because she had previously
jumped around in a bounce house with the Bachelor and it was seen as
immature because she was being “too sexual”.

10. In a previous season of The Bachelorette, the male contestants were allowed to choose
between two women for who they wanted to be the seasons Bachelorette, showing that even on
The female counterpart of The Bachelor, the men still hold all the power. In the video’s below, you can see
A short clip from that season as well as Bachelorette Kaitlyn’s opinion on it later.
On Season 19 of The Bachelorette, the male contestants
chose the woman who would be the bachelorette for the
rest of the season.
Season 19 Bachelorette Kaitlyn says its time for The Bachelor
to “move on” and talks about being pitted against another woman
for the role of bachelorette.

11. Keeping Up With The Kardashians
Female-Focused Reality Television
KUWTK is a show that follows three sisters: Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney. The show grew to success with Kim
was caught in a sex scandal that made the Kardashian name famous. The show follows the three sisters as
well as their two younger sisters and mother trying to break into the industry of modeling, makeup, and
fame. Despite being female focused, the show depicts all of them as dramatic and often times, dim-witted.
Leaving viewers to believe that not only are these women sexualized but they are extremely dramatic in
their daily lives.
Jersey Shore
A show of women and men
Jersey Shore began as a show that was supposed to be a very “real-life” setting. It originally had three female
stars and three male stars. While all of the characters are constantly drinking, having sex, and screaming at
each other, it doesn’t really represent either sex in a good light. However, it is clear that the weight and
appearance of the women is discussed more and there is more drama surrounding the women that have sex
than the men. This show implies that both men and women are more sexualized than they actually are, and
more dramatic as well.
Other Famous Reality Shows

12. Reality Television creates an at
mosphere
Where people behave differently
because
there is a camera in front of the
m, and
that stereotypes are often used
because
of the camera.
For instance, women in reality T
V shows

13. WHAT VIEWERS THINK OF REALITY TV
Interviewing the Viewers
I asked three simple questions of viewers of reality television. The questions were
posted to my Facebook page and results were anonymously collected. The questions
were as follows:
1. When you watch reality television, what do you notice about the roles of women vs. men?
2. Do you think reality TV portrays people as their normal selves or do you think that gender
Stereotypes are often used?
3. What impact do you think reality television has on its viewers? Give examples.
Responses can be seen on the next slide.

14. “I think reality television stars are
overly sexualized and it promotes
hookup culture.”
“All of the girls on reality television tend to have long hair
and look stereotypically feminine, not androgynous.”
“Men and women are generally
pitted in some way against
each other”
“Reality television picks and
Chooses applicants that fit the
shows desired profile for drama.”
“Reality television influences how viewers
see sex and body image. It influences the
younger generations of people most.”
“Women are expected to be polite &
express their emotions tactfully while
men are expected to not be too
emotional. I’ve noticed that it’s normal for
male contestants to be jealous,
but if a woman contestant is jealous
she’s seen as controlling or crazy.”
“Stereotypes are definitely used, or
people are edited in a particular way to
make them seem more dramatized. For
woman, you’ve got the stereotypes of
dumb or crazy. For men, you’ve got
aggressive or that their intentions are
bad.
“I think most viewers of reality television are female,
so it’s really important to consider the impact these
type of shows have on girls in particular. I think
women see these beautiful girls and they try to
emulate them. The “nice” girls on the show are
poised and handle stress well, they always dress to
the nines. It implies that women should act and look
like this.”
“The mean girl vibe is always
pushed in reality television”
“On Jersey Shore, it was
a bigger deal when the
girls hooked up
when the men did.
“On Survivor, with women
they focus on the cattiness of
their relationships and only
pick women that would look
good in bikinis. With men
they focus on them hunting,
foraging, etc. and they have
more than swim trunks to
wear.

15. “Women are expected to move the plot much more in
their actions by creating controversy and drama. Perhaps
it’s because the Kardashian’s are the frontrunners of their
own show, but the boyfriends and significant others are
background characters compared to the drama started by
the women. It feels the same way with shows like The
Bachelor and real housewives variations, women are
expected to incite conflict for the sake of the viewers.”
[Response from Interview Question]

16. Reality television impacts viewers by giving
them an
inaccurate portrayal of real-life situations.
Reality
television is known to cut and alter footage
to present a different tone or to dramatize s
ituations to make the
viewer think a certain lifestyle is always ex
citing or
dramatic.
Viewers take away certain perceptions of
Gender based on the premises of reality tv
shows
for example-teen mom created a skewed p
erception of
being a teen mom and even encouraged te

17. Conclusion
Reality TV & How It’s Influencing Gender Norms
 These shows preserve an antiquated narrative of gender roles, dating and marriage. In modern shows, hookup culture
is seen as the “norm”, and people are overly sexualized. They are constantly influencing how women think they should act,
how men think they should act, as well as how women and men feel they are supposed to interact with one another.
 Reality television influences how people think they should look at act. People try to emulate the beauty standards seen
in these shows.
 Reality shows do not usually feature minorities or people that deviate from gender norms. It is rare to see homosexual
relationships, transgender people, gender fluidity or even women or men who don’t fit societies beauty standards.
 According to the social learning theory, gender is a learned construct. Thanks to media and societal expectations, people
learn what is expected of them based upon their gender. “Television in particular and the entertainment mass media in
general heavily influence women’s identities in out culture.” (Andrea Press, p. 3)

18. THE END.
Thank you.

19. CITATION
Sources Used
Dubrofsky, Rachel E., "The Surveillance of Women on Reality TV: Watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette " (2011).
Communication Faculty Publications. 646.
Palczewski, C. H., DeFrancisco, V. L., & McGeough, D. D. (2019). Gender in communication: A critical introduction. Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Press, A. L. (1991). Women Watching Television: Gender, Class, and Generation in the American Television Experience.
Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. pg.3-5
Reality TV 101. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2018, from http://www.webster.edu/news/2013/news/09232013-realitytvclass.html
Sterotyped: Women in Reality TV. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2018, from https://the-artifice.com/sterotyped-women-in-reality-tv/
https://sites.middlebury.edu/bachelorgenderimages/gender-stereotypes/
The History of Reality Television. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2018, from
http://scalar.usc.edu/works/reality-tv/the-history-of-reality-television