Resisting Project

Brainwash“Many of us know that most television is fiction, yet we

see television as a key source of information about the

world we live in. It is simultaneously real and unreal” –

Pozner

Gender

Race

Social Class

Image from: www.realitybitesbackbook.com

www.wildsound.com

The Bachelor: 25 women begging for one

man

Daisy De La Hoya: One of the many women from

VH1’s Rock of Love

http://gossip.celebritycowboy.com/

“…Fairytale females who stand up for themselves or who are confident, active, or powerful, are typically depicted as bitchy, catty, cruel, and unworthy – and they are almost always punished for their sins.”

Reality Dating

Shows: Happily

Ever After?

www.fanpop.com/

What is “hot”?

www.layoutsparks.com

www.thequestforit.com

http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/resources/2007/10/heather083007.jpg

http://www.televisioninternet.com/news/pictures/brettt2.jpghttp://cm1.theinsider.com

“Thinking is a waste of time.

Thinking is for people who

have no brains.”-a bride from WE’s show Bridezilla

CAD

DYhttp://www.loftcinema.com/files/mean-girls.jpg

INCAPABLE

OF WORK

http://www.newfoundnames.com/

LAZY

Reality TVHyper-

commercialism

HYPERCONSU

MERS

What has Flava Flav done to African American women?

http://www.uglymales.com/wc/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/flavor-flav.jpg

http://lovebscott.com/

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3134/bootz2cd0.jpg

http://usversusthem.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/flavor1.jpg

The Women of

Flavor of Love

ew.com

Pozner on Bank’s as a former model:

“…Tyra grew up to become the ultimate

perpetrator of the ideology of the fashion

and beauty advertisers who stunted her

intellectual development and shaped her

self-image, psychology, and values.” -

Pozner

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

annftilley.blogspot.com

dailymakeover.com

Violence Against Women

in Reality TV:

“Sadism has been a recurring theme.

Right from the get-go, America’s Next

Top Model’s producers began

manufacturing moments that would

inevitably result in

pain or injury to the girls.” -Pozner

http://www.topnews.in/files/women-career.jpghttp://classracegender.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/domestic-women.jpg

“I will make the best wife for

Bob because I will be a servant

to him.”-Christine, a contestant on ABC’s The Bachelor before she even met the

Bachelor

Advertiser Ideology

goes

3-D/www.marshu.com/

sexsense.blogspot.com

Fun with Media Literacy!

•Critical Thinking about Reality TV shows•“What values are expressed?”

•“Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?”

•Playing Games Analyzing Reality TV•“Backlash Bingo”

•Reality TV Bingo

•Drinking Games to Reality TV shows•Example: For VH1’s Flava of Love, take a drink every

time you hear a woman called a bitch, ho or baby

mama

The Final

Chapter:

“What are you

going to do?”

How you can help make a difference!

Talking or blogging

online about issues

relevant to Reality TV

mystichackers.com

Supporting independent media

by watching/reading/listening

www.textually.org/

neverbetter.com

Creating your own media

and sharing it on public

sites like YouTube

Who is Jennifer L.

Pozner?

•Media Critic

•Journalist

•Activist

•Founder/Executi

ve Director of

WIMN

www.realitybitesbackbook.com/

Reality

TV

Realit

y

What Have I Learned From Reality

Bites Back?

“You want to watch Project Runway or What Not To

Wear? You’ll get no argument here; just watch with

your critical filters intact. Television can be a fun,

cathartic, and yes, a source of much pleasure (guilty

or otherwise).” - Pozner

General Misconceptions About Women

Reinforced by Reality Television

http://webforhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/skinny-girl.jpg

Skinny

= Sexy

(even if

it’s

unhealt

hy)

Girls are

Dumbwww.flickr.com

http://images.fabulously40.com/uploadedimage/11995/thumbx640/donna-reed.jpg

Women =

Stay at

Home

Moms

Women are

Slutshttp://www.yourgossipfix.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/danger.jpg

http://www.princeton.edu/admission/whatsdistinctive/facultyprofiles/lacewell/picture-right.jpg

“Reality Bites Back

is an extraordinary gift

to critical media

literature… Pozner

reminds us that

TV is never accidental,

but directed to reinforce particular

social lessons. This should be

required reading for every

American girl and woman.”-Melissa Harris-Lacewell

What Comes After Reality Bites Back?

Jennifer Pozner’s New Project:

an independent TV show starring Pozner herself called

Reality Rehab

Reality Rehab is a

show that is

available on

YouTube and each

episode is a skit

poking fun at some

popular reality TV

show. In this

photo, Pozner is

posing as “Dr.

Jenn” (mocking Dr.

Drew on Celebrity

Rehab).

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/39/2010/11/340x_kafngevxhtw.jpg

Are there any critical

and credible reviews of

Jennifer Pozner’s

Reality Bites Back?

No.At least not yet…

Recommendation…?

If you have the chance, READ IT!

Why you ask?

•Funny•Enlightening

•Smart•Informative

•A must-read!

With the help of books critical of

the media such as this one,

maybe we as a society can

know when reality TV has taken

things too far, and when it’s our

cue to “bite back”!

Pozner, Jennifer. Reality Bites Back. Berkeley,

CA: Seal Press, 2010. 22, 48, 98, 109, 211,

229, 239, 326, 346. Print.

Pozner, Jennifer. Reality Bites Back. Berkeley,

CA: Seal Press, 2010. (Melissa Harris-

Lacewell Review -- Back of Book with other

reviews). Print.

Pozner, Jennifer. "WIMN's Voices." Women In

Media News. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Dec 2010.

<http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog

/?author=36&profile#bio>.

"Reality Rehab." Reality Bites Back. N.p., n.d.

Web. 10 Dec 2010.

<http://www.realitybitesbackbook.com/about-