'Reality TV women unreal'
By Joyce Galinski
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: News
Originally published: 3/13/08 at 11:11 AM CSTLast update: 3/13/08 at 4:05 PM CST
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"Producers want women who think like June Cleaver, have sex like Madonna, and look like Miss USA … It's like Donna Reed meets Pamela Anderson," Jennifer Pozner said to a crowd of about 150 during a presentation titled "Bachelor Babes, Bridezillas and Husband-Hunting Harems: Decoding Reality TV's Twisted Fairy Tales."
The event was sponsored by the women's center and the office of student life.
Women in Media and News is a media analysis, training and advocacy group that promotes equity for women. Pozner is a widely published journalist and media critic who graduated from Hampshire College in 1996 with a concentration in journalism, media criticism and women's studies.
Pozner said the majority of successful television shows in recent years have been reality TV shows such as "The Bachelor," "America's Next Top Model, "American Idol," "The Swan," "Extreme Makeover," "How to Marry My Dad," and "Joe Millionaire."
She used humor to expose how "reality" TV reinforces negative stereotypes of love, marriage, men, women, sexuality and class in America.
"Studies have shown that the more advertisements women see, the worse they feel about themselves. This psychological exploitation becomes more insidious and more dangerous when woven directly into the content of our shows," she said.
Pozner said producers cast mostly Anglo men and women to be on these shows.
"The only major exceptions to the mostly white casts are on makeover and beauty pageant shows," she added. "But even in those programs, ethnic features are portrayed as a liability."
Pozner showed clips from "The Swan" and "Extreme Makeover" to emphasize the way media encourage plastic surgery.
"For example, a black woman's mouth was described as looking like a monkey on the WB's 'America's Next Top Model,' and an Asian woman's eyes were 'softened' on Fox's 'The Swan,'" she said.
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