Portrayals of Women in Prime Time Reality TV Programs Ivonne Martinez-Sheperd Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2006 Portrayals of women in prime time reality TV programs Ivonne Martinez-Sheperd Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the American Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Television Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Martinez-Sheperd, Ivonne, "Portrayals of women in prime time reality TV programs" (2006). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 1396. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/1396 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Portrayals of women in prime time reality TV programs by Ivonne Martinez-Sheperd A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Journalism and Mass Communication Program of Study Committee: Lulu Rodriguez, Major Professor Dennis Chamberlin Dianne Bystrom Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2006 Copyright © Ivonne Martinez-Sheperd, 2006. All rights reserved. UMI Number: 1439859 UMI ® UMI Microform 1439859 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES iv ABSTRACT v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Historical Roots 4 Reality Shows Equal More Profits 6 Female Minorities in Reality TV 8 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 9 The Reality TV Genre 9 Portrayals of Females in TV History 12 Portrayals of Females and Minority Females on Reality TV Programs 14 Audiences of Reality TV 17 Reality TV Effects 18 Cultivation Theory 20 Research Questions 25 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 26 Content Analysis 26 Sampling 27 Unit of Analysis and Time Frame 27 Conceptual and Operational Definition of Variables 29 Data Analysis 33 Statistical Analysis 34 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 35 The Sample 35 Women in Reality Shows 36 Type of roles 42 Ill Physical Appearance 47 Winners or Losers? 48 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS 50 Implications of the Findings to Theory 54 Limitations of the Study 56 Suggestions for Future Study 57 REFERENCES 59 APPENDIX A: CODEBOOK 64 APPENDIX B: CONTENT ANALYSIS SCHEDULE- JUNE AND JULY, 2006 66 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 72 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. United States female population by race, 2000 US Census 3 Table 2. Results of inter-coder reliability testing 34 Table 3. Types of reality shows aired by the four major networks 36 Table 4. Number of female characters in the reality shows 37 Table 5. Composition of female participants in the four major networks by race 38 Table 6. Chi-square test comparing the extent to which the four networks featured women in their reality shows 38 Table 7. Analysis of variance test showing difference among the networks in terms of number of women shown in reality programs 39 Table 8. Analysis of variance test showing difference among the networks in terms of number of minority women shown in their reality programs 41 Table 9. Racial composition of female participants by type of reality show 42 Table 10. Roles portrayed by reality show female participants 46 Table 11. Attitudes depicted by female characters and the importance of their roles in reality shows 47 Table 12. Physical appearance of female participants in terms of clothes worn 48 Table 13. Female participants as winners or losers in the reality shows 49 V ABSTRACT Reality shows are among the most exciting and successful forms of TV program today. The different styles and format of these shows have favorably positioned them in the network markets, generating high ratings and large profits. Because they have been tremendously popular TV fare, how do they portray females and minority women? Do they, as past studies have found, depict women negatively and in largely domestic roles? This study aims to determine the extent to which women were shown and how they were portrayed in reality TV shows. It examined the content of a census of reality shows aired from June to July 2006 shown on primetime on the four major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX. The results indicate that in terms of roles, attitudes, behavior and appearance, women were portrayed positively. They were also often depicted as the winners or victors in these shows. The females in the reality shows examined were mainly career professionals and were less likely to be featured in domestic roles. Although the proportion of minority females in these shows was still low, minority females were portrayed as enjoying the same benefits and opportunities as Caucasian females. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Reality shows are everywhere, from cable and broadcast television to the Internet. Reality TV programming has generated millions of viewers, including those who primarily tune in during prime time hours, and those who are considered day time viewers. Reality shows have created a new culture in TV programming and have grown and diversified into various categories. They have enjoyed continuous popularity by holding auditions throughout the United States, creating a fever among viewers who dream of Hollywood stardom. Reality shows have proven to be one of the latest, most exciting, and successful forms of programs on TV. The different styles and format of these shows have favorably positioned them in the network markets, generating high ratings and large profits. Today's reality TV genre consists of game shows, talent contests, sitcoms, and lifestyle programs. Furthermore, research findings have shown that not only average educated people, but also the highly educated ones, tune in to these reality-based programs for entertainment (Reiss and Wilts, 2001). Such findings reveal that people enjoy watching these programs to see various "real life" ethical dilemmas, as well as to witness how each character's desire of changing his/her ordinary life into extraordinary fame play out. These shows are taking over ratings from sporting events, movies, drama and news. For example, America's currently top-rated reality program on broadcast TV is CBS's American Idol (Nielsen Media Research, 2006). This program averages more than 31 million viewers per week. Reiss and Wilts (2001) also report that the finale of the reality 2 show Survivor dominated the front page of the New York Post after gaining ratings that surpassed those of the Super Bowl. Although tremendously successful, the reality programs' role in gender and minority representations is yet to be explored. This new genre of TV programming, especially those shown during prime time hours, needs to be studied because they attract the greatest audiences. Although called "reality TV, " they contain scenes that are scripted, directed and edited to influence people's perception of gender and minority groups. TV has portrayed females in many ways. Studies have shown that women have been underrepresented and stereotyped in TV programs. Elasmar, Hasegawa and Brain (1999), for example, found that studies of gender roles on prime time programs suggest that women in the 1980s were portrayed as working individuals. Still under-represented in prime time shows in the 1990s, they appeared to hold lower status positions than men. During that decade, women were portrayed as having a greater focus on domestic issues. Such representations were even more pronounced for minority women. According to the 2000 United States census, the country has a total population of 281.4 million of which 143.3 million were females and 137.9 million were males. Of the 143.3 million women, 131.1 million (or 91.5%) were Caucasian, African American, Asian, or Hispanic. As shown in Table 1, white females represent 70% of the total female population while black females constitute 13.87%. Hispanic females make up 12.08% of the net total female population while 4.04% were Asians. 3 Table 1. United States female po mlation by race, 2000 US Census African White Hispanic American Asian # of Females 91,845,570 15,841,862 18,193,005 5,294,257 % of Total 70.02% 12.08% 13.87% 4.04% Although the percentage of minority women in the population has increased over the past 40 years, this change in demographics has not been reflected on TV, observers agree. African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans are seldom seen on prime time hours as well as on daytime TV shows. Indeed, the lack of minority female representation in reality shows mirrors the lack of minority females in other forms of TV programs. What little may be available is subject to considerable inaccurate portrayals. NBC's top-rated reality show, The Apprentice, is a case in point. In this show, the overall winner of the competition is granted a six-figure salary job in the Trump Organization. The leaders of these batches of applicants often emerge as the main characters in each weekly episode. This show has featured a disproportionate number of white females in positions of leadership. In the first season, the only African American female contestant was a problematic and controversial individual who stood out well above the rest because of her disagreeable demeanor. In the fourth season, the only Hispanic female contestant was portrayed as less intelligent than the other female characters. All Asian females featured in the show never played significant roles in the competition. Overall, out of the show's five seasons, only one female ended up as the season's final winner.