Surveillance of Women on Reality Television

Rachel E. Dubrofsky is assistant professor in the Department of Communication at University of South Florida.

The work aims to study media representations of women in a particular genre, reality television. It contains depictions of women based on gender and race, two categories of analysis that make sense of natural power relations and hierarchical differences. The author fully achieves her objective to provide a thorough analysis of the American reality show The Bachelor and its spin-off The Bachelorette. The choice of these programs, broadcast in prime time on ABC, is warranted by their success with the public, as evidenced by their longevity and large viewership. The choice of shows is all the more relevant as they inscribe women into a heterosexual group: the norms of femininity can be studied with respect to their male counterparts, thereby avoiding re-substantivation attempts such as those the author wishes to deconstruct. . . .The research is based on a solid theoretical framework, which articulates the work of cultural studies through Foucauldian methods. . . .Dubrofsky delivers a detailed analysis of the television devices embedded in a characteristic of contemporary pragmatic approaches to media studies. The book reflects the author’s mastery of the material and vast knowledge of this type of television.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: The "Bachelor Industry" Chapter 2 Chapter 1: Authenticity, Whiteness, Confession, and Surveillance Chapter 3 Chapter 2: Whiteness in the Harem Chapter 4 Chapter 3: Emotional Failure Chapter 5 Chapter 4: Excessive Emotion: Her Money Shot Chapter 6 Chapter 5: "Therapeutics of the Self" Chapter 7 Chapter 6: Empowerment and Choice in the Postfeminist Nirvana Chapter 8 Conclusion: The "Ideal" Woman? Chapter 9 Bibliography