The “Real” Woman: Ideas on Exploitation

In my previous post, I attempted to support my claim that elevating masculinity in gay men is fundamentally sexist and homophobic. By lambasting whatever is not masculine in men, one is verbalizing sexist ideas. Emmy-nominated shows such as Survivior, or any reality show of that matter, will never be capable of portraying gender and sexuality in a completely fair and accurate manner. However, viewing media content with a critical eye and crying fowl at the more blatant sexist/homophobic representations will help steer the movement for better depictions. Last week, I expressed my disagreement with the idea of criticizing different gender representations in the male gender. This week, I was compelled to find posts that dealt with media representations of femininity in heterosexual women. Despite the paucity of educated and academic writing on reality television, I managed to scrounge up two brief posts on the careers of the post-show careers of two reality television personalities. My first response is to a blog post on Hip Hop Crunch covering Tiffany Pollard’s decision to act in a production of “The Vagina Monologues.” My second response is to a brief article on the TV Guide website on an American Idol contestant’s decision to decline an offer to pose for Playboy Magazine. Both fit in with my theme of analyzing gender in reality television and can be found below and at the respective sites.

Tiffany Pollard ‘New York’ ‘Vagina Monologues’ Performance
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I am glad to read that Tiffany Pollard (right) will be acting in The Vagina Monologues, a play that is about female empowerment. Ms. Pollard, or “New York” as her nickname goes, has made a name for herself though the bevy shows she has starred in on the VH1 cable channel. Although she started out as a plaything Flavor Flav on the dating show Flavor of Love, she managed to portray herself as an unruly woman on all five reality shows she starred in. By enabling her disruptive power, she managed to highlight how people are constructed into gendered subjects. In her shows I Love New York and I Love New York 2, both in which a group of men compete against each other for Pollard’s heart, she triggered an unease about her that the men were very much aware of. By carrying this air of unease and being at ease with this, Pollard expressed a sort of indifference to objectifying gaze of the men and the audience. This indifference can be translated into power, one that breaks the social norm of women being the objects of mens’ satisfactions. She expanded the repertoire of how women can act, giving power to female watchers at home. In being the unruly woman on her show, Pollard is defying what it means to be the “perfect” woman, and shattering the idea of a “perfect” woman altogether.

Pollard’s role in “The Vagina Monologues” fits in perfectly with the work she has done in her reality shows. I think it is emblematic of her belief in female empowerment. As she said, the show is a “celebration for women and we need to be liberated every day.” She has done a good job so far with ensuring that she portrays a woman who is liberated and strong. Acting in the show just seems like a natural progression. However, despite all that she has done, I cannot speak for her acting skills. Judging from what I saw on New York Goes To Hollywood, she might not have the chops.

Will Idol's "Bikini Girl" Bare Even More for Playboy?
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“Bikini Girl,” otherwise known as Katrina Darrell (left), embarrassed herself the minute she stepped in front of the judges, and the camera, to audition for American Idol. She decided, whether it was in her best judgment or not, it would be best to wear nothing but a bikini in an attempt to advance on the show. Unfortunately, the tactic worked. Simon Fuller and Randy Jackson immediately took a liking to her and gave her the pass to go to Hollywood. The story was different, however, with the female judges. Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi took issue with the fact that Darrell was in a bikini and feigned a catfight with the contestant. While maybe the entire debacle was constructed by the producers to make for compelling television, it regrettably puts into discourse that women just have to put on a bikini to appeal to men. Nobody knows if she would have been given the same attention had she entered the room fully clothed and had nothing to rely on except her talent. It is evident in the way the audition was edited that the producers have little respect for women, apparent in the fact that a contestant such as Darrell was not taken seriously, present as nothing more than eye candy.

I also take issue with the fact that Playboy offered her the chance to pose for the magazine. While Playboy in itself is an issue that can warrant its own essay, the problem lies in the media exploiting women for their sexuality instead of their talents. I am reminded of the Maxim Magazine photo spreads of female Olympic athletes, which consist of pictures of talented athletes hyper-sexualized and wearing almost nothing. I hope Darrell does not take the offer like she claimed to in the article, because it would do nothing for her dignity or for the representation of women in television and media in general.

Masculine Gays: Better for Survivor?

Survivor is one of the few reality shows, or any kind of television show for that matter, to make it to eighteen seasons. Therefore, it is no surprise that last week's season premiere was watched by 13.63 million viewers. With all of its seasons consistently ranking in the top 15 most viewed shows, I think I can safely say that Survivor has adapted a successful reality formula that keeps audiences captivated, and more importantly, watching. Spencer Duhm (see right) has emerged this season as the token gay contestant, a ratings tactic that regular Survivor watchers have become familiar with. Over the seasons, gay contestants have come and gone, with Richard Hatch and Todd Herzog being the only out gay men to actually win. Duhm, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the show, seems to take a disliking to the more flamboyant cast members of past seasons. With the million-dollar prize at stake, he has been quoted as saying that he is thankful he doesn't "sound gay" because it could hurt his chances at winning. This mentality is potentially homophobic and is definitely unfair to the other gay contestants. However, Duhm could be on to something.

In the following excerpt from an interview with Reality Blurred that was released a day before the show premiered on February 12, Spencer Duhm spoke about how he sees himself as a gay contestant on Survivor.

"I don't like come across like most of the gay guys but I am, so I'll probably be like-but then again, JP was gay and nobody knew that on the show; he was about the straightest I've ever seen. ... But I won't be Todd, I surely won't be Coby. I won't be Charlie. Holy shit. I talked to my parents and I was like, 'Mom, do I sound like that?' she was like, 'Sweetheart, no, I would never let you go out in public if you sounded like that.' Thank God."
Spencer insisted that his sexual orientation is "not going to be the character I am," and said that he hasn't decided whether to share that with his tribemates. "It'll probably be based on the people around me, if they're homophobes, if they're one of those people, if I tell them, they're going to want to vote me out. Then again, girls feel non-threatened" by gay men, he said. If he does encounter a tribe of people are homophobic, he joked, "I might be bashing some homos myself."

In berating the more feminine gay contestants while praising the masculine gay contestants, Duhm is promoting heteronormatism. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, the fact that he is encouraging the conformity to such social constructs is homophobic. He is normalizing "heterosexual behavior." Also, he is attempting to avoid being labeled as a gay person, thus avoiding whatever treatment he foresees might happen to him as a gay contestant. In creating distance between himself and the number of feminine gay men who appeared on the show, he is insinuating that he is more valuable as a contestant, and as a man. I hope that Duhm's misguided statements were spoken out of ignorance, and not as a reflection of the internalized homophobia he might have.

Duhm mentioned how he could never be portrayed like Coby Archa from Season 10 and Charlie Herschel from Season 17 because of his masculinity. He failed to acknowledge, however, Richard Hatch (see left), the first season winner, and Todd Herzog, the fifteenth season winner. Both were able to win despite, or because of (?), their sexuality. Herzog has said in an interview that he used the fact that he is gay as a strategic move, luring girls into trusting him. Hatch, on the other hand, was not concerned about how his sexuality played a part in his attempt to win. It is important to note that only one gay winner, Hatch, did not fit the "most of the gay guys" stereotype that Duhm seems so concerned with. In fact, Survivor has a good track record of portraying gay characters in a fair and accurate manner, including the other gay contestants who did not make it as far as Hatch and Herzog. Such cast members include Brandon Quinton(Season 3), John Carroll (Season 4), Coby Archa (Season 10), J.P. Calderon (Season 13), Brad Virata (Season 13), Chet Welch (Season 16) and Charlie Herschel (Season 17). Mark Burnett, the producer of Survivor, was even honored by GLAD, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, for his positive work. With a variety of gays finding a variety of successes on the show, what is Duhm, the 19-year-old contestant, so worried about?

Spencer Duhm is simply falling prey to the social and media constructions that equate masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness. He, by virtue of the interview he was quoted from above, is participating in the ideology of gender rules, which state that men must be masculine and women must be feminine. Duhm thinks that by being more masculine, he has a better chance at winning. This fits in perfectly with what the media and society have constructed, but I find it unfortunate that Duhm has not yet figured out that as a gay man, gender can not be described as a pure category, because categories come with assumptions.

Duhm's "strategy" of showcasing his more masculine traits does not guarantee him advancing further in the contest, as is evident in past season winners. Also, his tirade against effeminate gays is dangerous. Not only do statements like his create unnecessary rifts in the gay community, but they are also patronizing toward any feminine behaviors. It will be interesting to see if Duhm decides to come out to his fellow contestants this season, and if so, how so. I am committed to watching the rest of the season, especially if Duhm is still on the show. Although I do not know enough about any of the contestants to have any favorites or predictions, I hope that Duhm's actions and the editing of the show portray him and his sexuality in a manner that is fair, accurate, and inclusive, masculine or not.

Writing Critically About Reality Television: An Introduction

As a budding writer seeking to enter the blogosphere as a relevant voice, I have decided to first build the foundation of my blog around a catalog of websites that are of the upmost quality. This list is organized into the linkroll, which consists of organizational websites, personal/ professional blogs, and media databases.

To find these, I first compiled a list of sites that I regularly visited that offered commentary on television shows. I then started searching using the vast amount of search tools available, starting from powerful search engines such as Cuil and Google and ending with more discerning searches on sites such as Technorati and the Open Directory Project. I was able to build a long list of websites that were concerned with gender representations in media, LGBT representations in media, reality television, or any combination of the three.

Since I wanted the linkroll to contain links to sites of only the best quality, I decided to implement the Webby standards of content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience combined with the IMSA blog standards of depth, timing, usefulness, activity and bias to narrow down and govern what would be included.

Among some of the qualified sites that made it onto my final linkroll are After Elton (a trusted site that provides news, reviews and commentary on gay and bisexual men portrayed in entertainment and the media), TV Gay Guide (a frequently updated database that logs all shows with LGBT characters, and Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (an organizational website that represents the biggest LGBT media watchdog). To the right, you can see the strong visual aesthetics of the GLAAD website juxtaposed with the simplicity of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media site.

I hope this blog matures into one that offers educated commentary on reality television and incites participation and discussion in my readers. I plan to produce work that is on par with the quality of my linkroll, which will constantly evolve to serve as a resourceful contribution to my musings.