Real Sister

Jervette R. Ward

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780813575063
• eBook ISBN: 9780813575087
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Television History & Criticism
• Index: Social Sciences

From The Real Housewives of Atlanta to Flavor of Love, reality shows with predominantly black casts have often been criticized for their negative representation of African American women as loud, angry, and violent. Yet even as these programs appear to be rehashing old stereotypes of black women, the critiques of them are arguably problematic in their own way, as the notion of “respectability” has historically been used to police black women’s behaviors.
 
The first book of scholarship devoted to the issue of how black women are depicted on reality television, Real Sister offers an even-handed consideration of the genre. The book’s ten contributors—black female scholars from a variety of disciplines—provide a wide range of perspectives, while considering everything from Basketball Wives to Say Yes to the Dress. As regular viewers of reality television, these scholars are able to note ways in which the genre presents positive images of black womanhood, even as they catalog a litany of stereotypes about race, class, and gender that it tends to reinforce.
 
Rather than simply dismissing reality television as “trash, ” this collection takes the genre seriously, as an important touchstone in ongoing cultural debates about what constitutes “trashiness” and “respectability.” Written in an accessible style that will appeal to reality TV fans both inside and outside of academia, Real Sister thus seeks to inspire a more nuanced, thoughtful conversation about the genre’s representations and their effects on the black community. 

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The Real Scandal: Portrayals of Black Women in Reality TV
• Chapter 1. Black Women: From Public Arena to Reality TV
• Chapter 2. Selective Reuptake: Perpetuating Misleading Cultural Identities in the Reality Television World
• Chapter 3. Striving to Dress the Part: Examining the Absence of Black Women in Different Iterations of Say Yes to the Dress
• Chapter 4. The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta
• Chapter 5. Homes without Walls, Families without Boundaries: How Family Participation in Reality Television Affects Children’s Development
• Chapter 6. Where Is Clair Huxtable When You Need Her? The Desperate Search for Positive Media Images of African American Women in the Age of Reality TV
• Chapter 7. Questions of Quality and Class: Perceptions of Hierarchy in African American Family–Focused Reality TV Shows
• Chapter 8. Contemplating Basketball Wives: A Critique of Racism, Sexism, and Income-Level Disparity
• Chapter 9. Exploiting and Capitalizing on Unique Black Femininity: An Entrepreneurial Perspective
• Chapter 10. Reunion Chapter: A Conversation among Contributors
• Appendix: Reality TV Shows That Prominently Feature Black Women
• Notes on Contributors
• Index