Alexus Westberry

UWRT 1102-047

SOURCE
Taylor, Raven. "The Real in
Reality Television." Common
Place. McGraw-Hill Companies
Inc., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2015.

Samswan. "Sterotyped: Women in

Reality TV." The Artifice. N.p., 11
Sept. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.

ANNOTATION
This article, for the most part,
talked about one subject in
particular, and that was MTVs
Teen Mom/16 & Pregnant
sequel. Although it only
covered one specific reality
show, the message of it
correlates with many other
reality shows. Taylor brought
up some excellent points about
the false reality that these two
shows portray. Indeed, they
demonstrate the struggles of
being a teenage mother while
either trying to stay in school or
working or both. However, they
also glamorize teen pregnancy
to some extent. Taylor
mentioned how the moms are
most times exploited. You dont
see them on the covers of
magazines because of
something great that they had
done. Most times theyre called
out for drug use, who has
custody of the child now, and
being pregnant again.
Based off the title of the article,
its clear that the author was
going to dig deep into how
reality TV adds on to existing
negative stereotypes of women.
They used The Real
Housewives, The Bachelor, and
Keeping up with the
Kardashians as examples of
how this works. All of these
shows demonstrate how women

THOUGHTS/CONNECTIONS
I dont disagree with Taylor at all
on anything within this article. I
dont think these moms should be
broadcasted the way they do.
Teenage pregnancy is an issue, we
all know this. If anything, Teen
Mom shouldve been a short
documentary or something
nothing long-term. When young
girls watch this show, some may
see it as an opportunity to play
house. Thats what the show
speaks to me. Im not disregarding
the hard parts that they do show,
but I just think its a negative show
altogether.

The author did a good job

connecting these shows to existing
stereotypes of women. It doesnt
necessarily go hand-in-hand with
my topic, but Im going to
incorporate this issue into it,
because I think that its important to
try to eliminate how women are
negatively portrayed and viewed in
American society.

Bozell, L. Brent, III. "'Reality

Shows' Distort the Real
World." Cnsnews.com. N.p., 21
Oct. 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2015

are dependent upon and are

below the man. In American
society, the inconsistency of
gender roles remain to be an
issue and these shows do not
aid in trying to diminish it. In
The Real Housewives, the title
alone shows that women are no
more than just that. Their
husbands have great jobs and
make enough money to support
the family, but what about the
wife? In The Bachelor, the
contestants usually have
mediocre jobs and are
incredibly beautiful. Again, the
woman is relying on the man
for financial stability. On the
show, most of the time, the
women are made up and have
on very little clothing. There
you have it, sex sells. As
represented in Keeping up with
the Kardashians. Kim
Kardashian instantly got amous
die to her leaked sex tape with
Ray J. SEX SELLS, people!
The final argument of Bozell
was that if reality TV shows
promoted things like decency,
modesty, and fortitude, it would
still sell. This article focused on
how reality TV affects younger
viewersgirls between the
ages of 11 and 17. Statistics
from The Girl Scout Research
Institute showed that many of
the girls surveyed thought that
fighting in a relationship was
normal, the shows promote
reckless behavior, and the
shows seem real. The main
focus of the article was on, yet

I appreciated that the author of this

article provided statistics to support
his argument. The youth should
never be exposed to things that
shouldnt be seen at such a tender
age earlier than when they are able
to comprehend whats going on. I
dont totally blame MTV, because
they dont produce shows suitable
for children, so they shouldnt be
watching MTV to begin with.
However, with all of the
information and statistics out about
how their shows are affecting the
youth, they should take some
initiative to tweak and clean up

Gallagher, Christina. "Reality

Shows Don't Depict Reality." The
Daily Collegian. N.p., 3 Apr. 2013.
Web. 17 Feb. 2015.

Peek, Holly. "The Impact Of

again, a reality show that MTV

produced, Jersey Shore. Its
obvious that these shows arent
one hundred percent reality. Its
the producers job to bring
viewers in and keep them
entertained. But why is it okay
that young, innocent girls are
watching this raunchy show in
the first place? It even got to
the point where MTV was
praising a very young child for
dressing up like one of the girls
from Jersey Shore on
Halloween, saying These
Jersey Shore Halloween
Costumes Make Us Proud.
That is not okay.

what they show on their network.

This article was no more than

an opinion-based article. The
author, Gallagher, was
expressing how reality shows,
indeed, dont depict reality.
That is my whole argument.
These reality stars arent
that or anything close to it.
They dont represent the
average person. She was
concerned with what these
shows do to its viewers. MTV
seems to be a popular target
because she used their shows
Buckwild and Jersey Shore to
better get her point across. A
few of MTVs reality shows
have had cast members to pass
away from tragic deaths, not
to blame them, but their
lifestyles arent healthy ones.
So, Gallagher just wants the
viewers to be aware of that.
Peek, just like the other

This article was very similar to

precious articles that I have read
about this topic, but that just goes
to show that Im not the only one
who questions the reality of reality
shows.

I agree one hundred percent with

Reality TV On Our Teens: What

Can Parents Do? - The MGH Clay
Center for Young Healthy
Minds." The MGH Clay Center for
Young Healthy Minds. N.p., 11
Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Sanneh, Kelefa. "The Reality

Principle." The New Yorker. N.p., 9
May 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

authors, analyzed certain

shows and talked about how
they depict a false reality to its
viewers. Keeping up with the
Kardashians seems to be a
fan-favorite to criticize, but
there are very few good
concepts of that show. Peek
used Kim as an example. As
Kim was preparing for the
birth of her baby, she was
more concerned with having
her glam squad ready than
anything else. Peeks issue
was what are these shows
doing to the youth, especially
young girls? Its the parents
job to control what they watch
and to determine that if the
reality shows that they wish to
watch are suitable for their
age. So, Peek provided eight
tips that would assist parents
in regulating their childs
perception of these shows.
As lengthy as this article was,
it contained a lot of valuable
information. To sum it all up,
it basically talked more about
activist and journalist,
Jennifer L. Pozners book,
Reality Bites Back: The
Troubling Truth about Guilty
Pleasure TV. Pozner discussed
how painful it is, how
aggravated she gets, and how
bored she is when watching
reality TV. You would think
that shows like What Not to
Wear, Dr. 90210, Charm
School, and The Swan
wouldnt have a negative
depiction. However, Pozner

Peek. I wish my mom had regulated

what I watched on TV as a kid,
because I truly believe that there
are a lot of things that a
child/adolescent/teenager should
not see before their time.
Nowadays, since reality TV is
getting worse, in my opinion, its
even more important now for
parents to be leery of what their
children are watching on TV. They
should inquire about their
childrens thoughts of it.

If I had time to read Pozners book,

I would, because it appears to me
that we share the same thoughts and
she just so happened to dig way
deeper than I could have. I dont
think reality TV is a bad thing, it
just needs a little bit of tweaking.

analyzed it and it makes

sense. What Not to Wear
seems harmless, but the
women on the show are gently
chastised for not conforming
to society and dressing like
everyone else. Dr. 90210 just
makes you feel inadequate
watching average women
drastically change their look
for their own satisfaction and
maybe even the satisfaction of
society.
Rivera, Kayla, Joseph Cogdell, and
Stephanie Gelsey. "Societies
Obsession with Reality Television."
The Impact. N.p., 10 Dec. 2013.
Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

This article summed up the

question posed: why are
societies obsessed with
reality television? It greatly
relates to many of the other
annotations listed about. It is
pretty simple. One of the
more obvious reasons that
reality TV seems to be taking
over modern-day television is
because it is hundreds of
thousands of dollars cheaper
to produce than a regular
scripted show with indemand actors and actresses.
That is why every time we
turn on the TV, we see a new
reality TV show premiering
in the next few weeks. Its
viewers crave it. There was a
point that was made in the
article that these shows tend
to have something in
commoncompetitive
nature. Beyond that, though,
there is a sense of fantasy that
the shows gives viewers that
they can be the next big
reality star. As fake as it

With the authors of this article being

college students at the time of
writing it, it gave me validation that
Im not the only young person that
sees flaws in what is being played
on television today. Everything isnt
peaches and cream when it comes to
being a reality star, as shown in the
interview with Love and Hip Hops
Joe Buddens ex-girlfriend Kaylin.
The show contributed to the demise
of their relationship. Bringing me
back to my original point that reality
television can still be entertaining
all while staying true to the actual
lives and truths of the cast members.

seems, there is definitely

some truth in this shows. If
there werent, that would
defeat the whole purpose of a
REALITY show in the first
place. The consequences of
being on drama-filled shows
are real.
Prudom, Laura. "Reality TV
This article was similar to the
Villains: Why We're Obsessed With other articles listed above
Badly Behaved Reality Stars." The compacted to one, to a certain
Huffington Post.
extent. The author focused on
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 June
an extremely dramatic couple
2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.
whose troubled reputation of
their restaurant was
broadcasted on the show
Kitchen Nightmares. It was
interested that the title of the
article was called Reality TV
Villains, and sure enough, the
wife of the couple was the
villain of that episode and
made it to YouTube where
millions of views came in
because of her behavior.
There was a good point
brought up in the article from
author and communications
professor, June Deery, that
these shows sell because they
know that people will watch
them and when people watch
them, that attracts advertisers
and that makes money.
Studies have shown that
reality shows with
misbehaving people brings
out different emotions in us.
They make us want to go
off on someone or make it
seem like unacceptable
behaviors are okay in society.
O'Mara, Kelly. "The Ugly Reality
This article was written by a

There were some valid points made

throughout the article, especially
when they quoted from different
psychologists and professors who
have actually studied reality
television in depth. People obsessed
with reality TV, including me, are
just that because we fantasize about
how quickly life could change if we
were able to get our own TV show.

Reading this article gave me insight

of Creating Reality Television."

Pacific Standard. N.p., 18 Oct.
2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Klassen, Anna. "I Was on Reality

TV: Behind the Scenes Secrets of
Faking Real Life." The Huffington
Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01
Mar. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

lady who actually saw how

auditioning for a reality TV
show works. In detail, she
described her experience
trying to be on Bear Grylls
show Get Out Alive With
Bear Grylls. Her and her
sister wanted to be on the
show, but little did they know
everything that they had to
do. They were interviewed by
a casting director along with
eight other couples trying to
be on the show as well.
Studies showed that reality
stars are extremely
narcissistic, more narcissistic
than most celebrities, in fact.
They had to go through all of
these interviews just to turn
around and have their dreams
let down because they
werent chosen for the show.
That is the reality for
hundreds of thousands of
hopefuls wanting to be on
these so-called reality shows.
Quite frankly, people try out
for these shows because they
think they have something
that the world either needs to
see or perhaps they feel like
they have something that no
one has ever seen. So when
people arent chosen for the
show, they begin to question
are they even enough. It
should never get to that point.
This article was even more
interesting than I had
anticipated. Anna was an
entertainment writer who had
always wondered what it

to what it is really like to be a reality

TV show hopeful. Its really easy
for an outsider to assume that reality
TV shows are fake, but when
someone has actually been through
the experience and can share that, it
makes all the difference. Im not
saying that every aspect of reality
TV is fake, but too much of it is
manipulated to totally be considered
reality.

I liked this article the most. After

reading this, I dont think I can look
at reality TV the same anymore. The
very last sentence of the article was,
There is nothing real about

would be like to be on the

other side of the pen and
paper. So, she agreed to do a
TV show without knowing
any background or details.
She was filmed for three days
to make a pilot for a
makeover show. In those
three days, she made friends
with her 20-person film crew
that included makeup artists,
producers, assistants, and
more. She fell in love with
the process of creating the
pilot. To her, it was acting.
She wouldnt cry over having
her hair chopped off in real
life. She enjoyed pretending
to be someone she wasnt.
That is all I needed to support
my argument.

reality TV. I have no further

remarks.