View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by DigitalCommons@Pace Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Honors College Theses Pforzheimer Honors College 5-1-2012 MTV’s Jersey Shore: An Educator on Interpersonal Relationships, Gender Roles and Embracing Manhood Brooke Swift Pforzheimer Honors College Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/honorscollege_theses Part of the Communication Commons, and the Television Commons Recommended Citation Swift, Brooke, "MTV’s Jersey Shore: An Educator on Interpersonal Relationships, Gender Roles and Embracing Manhood" (2012). Honors College Theses. Paper 105. http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/honorscollege_theses/105 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Pforzheimer Honors College at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. MTV’s Jersey Shore : An Educator on Interpersonal Relationships, Gender Roles and Embracing Manhood May 2012 Major: Communication Minor: English Professor Zaslow Dyson College of Arts and Science 1 MTV’s Jersey Shore : An Educator on Interpersonal Relationships, Gender Roles and Embracing Manhood Brooke Swift Spring 2012 Advisor: Professor Zaslow Dyson College of Arts and Sciences 2 Abstract Throughout the history of research in the media much has been said about the connection to social learning through television. With the rise of popular genre reality television, my findings proved a lack of previous research on reality television. By using Gerbners’ cultivation theory and my own textual analysis of MTV’s Jersey Shore season five, the following research provides direct messages from the show about gender norms, heteronormative relationships and women in the male gaze.