Throughout the semester, prompts based on class readings, screenings, lectures, and discussions will be posted on this blog. Responses will be graded on their level of critical thinking, pertinence, engagement with class texts, and grammar/spelling/proofing/
length. Be sure to read the prompt carefully and fully engage with the content of the class materials. At the bottom of your response, type your FIRST NAME and the FIRST INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME (e.g. Claudia Z.).
Friday, February 24, 2017
Week Five: Response 5.3
Pozner argues that intelligent women are often framed as
pretentious or intimidating before being eliminated on reality TV.Cite one or two examples to either support or
refute this observation.
I definitely agree with Pozner’s argument that intelligent women are often times framed as pretentions or intimidating on reality TV. There are so many examples of this throughout reality television, especially on ABC’s The Bachelor. I have been watching The Bachelor since high school, and over and over again I see women who are intelligent, well put together and actually have a career (not something bizarre like professional twin, chicken enthusiast or aspiring dolphin trainer) yet they are villainized and sent home early. This is prevalent on almost every season of The Bachelor, including this season that is currently on TV. This season, a woman I sympathize with is Taylor Nolan, eliminated week 5. Taylor has her master’s degree from John Hopkins University, is currently a mental health counselor and has done all of this by the age of 23 years old. She is extremely intelligent and well-spoken, yet the producers from The Bachelor made Taylor out to be a villain. She receives hate saying she is condescending, manipulative, and much more, all because she was not okay with how another contestant, Corrine Olympios, presented herself. The producers show Corrine as a sex crazy, materialistic, man obsessed, unintelligent yet beautiful woman, and America loves her. The producers created beef between the two contestants, but ultimately Taylor was sent home, and viewers were happy about it. I find it absurd that an accomplished woman is something that people do not want to encourage and build up, but instead is considered a threat and is eliminated. Backlash came from how producers showed Taylor, and according to an interview between Taylor and Entertainment Weekly, Taylor was “forced to take a pause from work since the show aired”. How viewers perceived an intelligent woman directly influenced what her employers saw her as, and jeopardized her job. Yet Corrine, one of America’s favorites, is still currently on the show. I believe it is time to start building women up to be more than just beautiful on the outside, however on TV producers will never do such a thing unless it is what viewers want. It starts with us, and it is time to get to work. Madelynne S.
I agree on Pozner’s statement that intelligent woman are projected as a threat to their male counterpart. Due to the patriarchal ideal within society, we place men on a higher podium than women in variety of traits; one of which includes intelligence. Therefore when a woman shows proof of her superior knowledge in a certain category, whether it be educational, mechanical,or trivial, society attempts to neutralize her as a threat. One method of neutralization involves framing her as a sexual object. An in-class example examined the scene from Transformers where Angelina Jolie’s character was demonstrating her knowledge of cars over the male protagonist. The producers attempts to neutralize her by making her wear appealing attire and have the camera and male protagonist focus on her body than her mind. Another method television uses to discriminate against intelligent women is by depicting her as the antagonist or possess undesirable traits that were a side-effect of her intelligence. Examples of this can be seen in the television trope of “bossy bitch”, which emphasizes that the woman in charge is not only intelligent but is also either sexual deprived or possess undesirable characteristics such as rudeness. By including negatives traits to the intelligent female role, television sends a subconscious message to female audience; the message being that if they focus on their intelligence, it will decrease their chances of finding a partner or they’ll develop antisocial traits and end up isolated. The influence of this message can be seen in chinese culture. According to the Telegraph’s Sarah Keenlyside, chinese women consider themselves a failure if they are still single by the age of 28. Keenlyside states in her article that the percentage of women CEOs are increasing, but this increase of success produced a negative response in media. The media has began labeling women approaching 30 to be “leftovers” of society, deeming them undesirable due to their pursuit of success after college as opposed to settling to be a housewife. Tommy L.
“Oh screw beautiful. I’m brilliant. If you want to appease me, compliment my brain.” A perfect and empowering statement Dr. Yang exclaims in an episode of, Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a shame that this isn’t the case for reality TV. I absolutely agree with Pozner, intelligent women are often framed as pretentious or intimidating before being eliminated.
Although embarrassed to admit it, I’ve watched almost all the seasons of The Bachelor. As the women step out of the limo one by one in elegant dresses, I’m always intrigued in finding out what their professions are as they introduce themselves. Subconsciously I’m thinking, “wow, look how beautiful and smart these women are!” While watching one of the most recent episodes of the show, Taylor was known for having several altercations with another contestant instead of her achievements. As the youngest contestant, the first of her family to attend college at two prestigious schools, Stevens University and John Hopkins University, obtaining her license in mental health counseling and opening her own practice. Only 23 years old, this young woman had accomplished so much already and yet “Mental acuity isn’t considered cute on dating shows”, and she was “framed as ‘arrogant’ and ‘snooty’”. (116)
Just like Tyra Banks explains to contestant Elyse, a medical student, “There’s a way to use that intelligence in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re maybe putting down other people or sounding derogatory.” (115) I believe the producers of The Bachelor were portraying these negative attributes on to Taylor to reduce her intelligence. They created a new character with editing, to justify that all women fall under trope one; women are catty, bitchy, manipulative and not to be trusted, especially by other women.
It has become very evident that all the intelligent women are framed for being someone they truly aren’t in real life. I believe that they are eliminated fairly soon because they don’t mend to the producers character they casted for and stick out. The producers purposely edit and cut tapings to demean these women, ultimately showing that their intelligence is the last thing a man cares about.
Pozner’s claim that intelligent women on reality TV are framed in a negative light to sabotage their chances of winning and get them off the show is definitely true and a clear example is Elyse on the first cycle of America’s Next Top Model. Elyse, a woman that was apparently med-school bound, was clearly favored to win and made it all the way to the season finale. Her great shot at winning the money, modelling contracts and photospread was ruined without even getting beat head-to-head. Tyra claimed that her intelligence was supposedly a good thing but that Elyse was failing to use it in a way that doesn’t intimidate others. What she likely means is that Elyse should keep her thoughts to herself instead of using big words and announcing to people that she could be a doctor as well as more successful than most of her competition at modeling. The show used forced solo interviews with drama-seeking questions to get Elyse to overshare on her negativity in a distasteful rant about how she seemed to think fellow cast-members were so stupid that she could not bear to hear them speak. Another example of reality shows’ negative portrayal of women with intelligence by Pozner is the rocket scientist on the show More to Love. As soon as Natasha said she was a rocket scientist in her introduction, the bachelor was clearly not happy and flat-out said that was “a little bit intimidating.” The bachelor, Luke, had her sent home as soon as possible.
In both America’s Next Top Model and More to Love, there seemed to be a harsh, sexist consequence of elimination as a direct result of signs of intelligence. Pozner is probably right to claim that reality TV is guilty of sexism in this matter, but these specific cases are not very good examples. Elyse actually did call her competition a bunch of idiots and it showed her in a very negative light. Intelligence can make people feel frustrated around stupid people but it is no excuse to be so rude. In the case of the rocket scientist, Luke himself was intimidated by it and it may have not even been an interaction planned by the producers. Her early elimination may have been a coincidence and simply a result of him not liking her as much as the other contestants. Nikko A.
Pozner suggest that women who are intelligent, confident, and powerful are usually portrayed as being “bitchy” on reality TV. She claims that only females who are passive are rewarded and truly make it in showbiz. Women who do not fit into the mold of a pretty, young girl, without ambition or a voice are almost always cut from the show. Producers simply want someone who is easily manipulated and that will conform to the image of “reality” they wish to broadcast to American households. For example on the reality TV show “Atlanta” several housewives are put against each other and many follow the producers lead and lash out on screen. The show is known for it’s verbal and fist fights. However, one of the cast members of “Atlanta” season one, DeShawn Snow was not invited back for another season, according to Pozner, “Bravo considered her too dignified. A producer “said that I was ‘too human for a circus show’ “ (Pozner 2012:103). Many reality television producer’s look for potential “ firecrackers” women who can be set off on cue and have the ability to influence others around them. She also uses other examples from movies such as “Mulan” and Tiana from “ The Princess and The Frog”; they are both strong willed women who end up being punished for fighting what they believe in. Mulan takes her father’s place in the Emperor’s Army as a “man”, but when she is found out she is deserted and left to fend for herself, her fate could have been far worse. Tiana is transformed into a frog after kissing a frog prince and is later hunted by an evil Voodoo Priest, all for trying to do the right thing. All of these women share strong will and ambition, yet their storylines always seems to send them down a whirl wind into danger, as for reality TV stars they are punished and simply cut. That way girls all over the world will only see the construct of a “women” created by a producer, and not a real women. Susana H.
Reality TV shows such as “The Bachelor” portray women as desperate for marriage and as though their only goal in life is to become someone’s wife. Women in reality TV shows are presented as airheads and gold diggers which makes others think it is okay to place these stereotypes on everyday women. Therefore when there’s a woman on TV who has her own career and thinks for herself it’s often looked down upon. This proves just how fragile masculinity is. Men like to consider themselves as providers and like they are needed by women, so when a women proves just how well off she is on her own it scares them. This fear is always channeled by calling these women derogatory terms and saying they are “prudes” or “stuck up” just because they don’t fall into the category of being weak and unintelligent. Just before being eliminated on ANTM, Elyse, a medical student, was told by Tyra Banks, “One thing with [your] intelligence is it can intimidate people.” Why should a women be criticized for not being embarrassingly stupid? Another example is presented in the dating show More to Love where a participant called Natasha mentioned that she was a rocket scientist and the bachelor, Luke, responded by saying “My goodness. That’s a little bit intimidating.” This might have been the reasoning behind why he sent her home at the end of the episode. These women are often eliminated from these reality TV shows early on because it is evident that they won’t be easily manipulated to act a certain way or stir drama, which is what TV producers really want. However, by eliminating these intelligent women, the audience starts to perceive women in real life the same way they are perceived on reality TV.
Throughout mainstream media, intelligent women have typically been portrayed as off-standish, boastful, and arrogant thus making them cast off—if they were even casted at all. With popularized tropes that imply that “Women are incompetent at home and at work” and “Women are stupid,” by casting dim-witted women to mock and fulfill these tropes, producers also eliminated intelligent women for being “intimidating,” and “arrogant.” In this unfortunate turn of events, this silences women and undermines the value of having a voice and being intelligent. This is evident throughout all representations of reality television from modeling to dating shows and so on. One of the most striking examples is Yaya DaCosta—a Brown University alumni. This impressive Ivy League graduate, however was ridiculed for her academic acclaims and achievements reinforcing Pozner’s notion that intelligent women come off as pretentious and intimidating. According to Pozner, “for the sins of expressing pride in her ethnic heritage, her intelligence, and her degrees in International Relations, and African Studies, Yaya was framed as “arrogant,” and “snotty.” (Page 116) The amazing attributes that contributed to the remarkable intellectual being she was unfortunately became the grounds upon which she was bashed for. And if that was not bad enough, Pozner further states that, “She [DaCosta] represented a double whammy: not only intellectually driven, but Black, that’s a losing combination in the reality TV universe.” (Page 116) Reality television values its African American participants as “Sapphires,” representing both implications of that word. Specifically however, reality television values the “ignorance” and “ghetto” portrayals demonstrated by the so-called “sapphires.” Another depressing showcase of how a young, intelligent women was discouraged and eliminated for her brains was 25 year old Natasha. On the Bachelor dating show admitted to being a rocket scientist—as if it was something to be ashamed about—which ultimately, unfortunately led to her downfall as the receiver of this message saw this as “intimidating,” and eliminated her after. This then poses as a major dilemma for women. Should they reinforce the tropes that dim-witted women are seen as more favorable? Or should they defy the boundaries set by reality television and become the amazing intellectuals they have the potential to achieve. The bitter truth of it is, whichever path women decide to choose will be stripping them away from possibilities because this trope of the intelligent women being far too intimidating is still very much present. As Pozner states, “no one wants a braniac in a bikini.” (Page 116)
Intelligent women on reality television seem to come around every now and again, but they are absolutely one of the minorities when it comes to characters on the shows. There was an interesting case of this on the latest season of The Bachelor. It came to my mind first because the contestant that was sent home recently was actually framed to be the “dumb girl” on the show, even though she was introduced as someone who helps run a multimillion dollar company. Throughout the first 8 weeks, she was mocked for being less intelligent than the other women, and she survived a double date elimination while Taylor, a woman who was framed as a highly intelligent person, was sent packing. Corrine’s fate seemed to take a turn after Nick, the bachelor, made his hometown visits. Corinne’s family, specifically her father, brought up the fact that she would most likely be the breadwinner of the family, because of her status with the company. Her father asked Nick if he would be okay with that and if it was something he could handle. Nick seemed genuine when he said yes, when he agreed that it would be alright if she made the most money in the house, however, Corinne went packing the next week. While it may have been alright in the moment, the idea that women can make the most money, or have the most power, seems to be quite an intimidating idea for men and society itself. Corinne thought her hometown visit went perfectly, she said it in the interview many times, and she broke into tears when she was sent home. She was framed to looks “dumb” and often put in positions to be mocked most of the season, but the moment we were able to see her in her hometown, with her family, thriving, it was too much. Suddenly the “dumb blonde” jokes would not work anymore and she actually became someone that most people could take seriously, and then suddenly she was gone.
Pozner speculates in, “Reality Bites Back” that intelligent women represented on reality television are framed as being pretentious and intimidating and because of this, they are eliminated from the show. This observation has aligned with the research I have done by asking friends who are reality television fans and by watching clips of reality shows online. One example of this happening is Omarosa Manigualt of the reality show, “The Apprentice.” In this completion show, contestants team up and compete to test their business skills and are eliminated one by one by their teammates for lacking the ability to cooperate and/or not putting enough into business strategy. Omarosa was first introduced in season one, where she was teamed up with an all-white women team. While Omarosa attempted to become a leader in the group and express her ideas to the team, she was regularly bullied and gained up on by her other teammates. Her teammates described her as a, “controlling bitch” and constantly ignored her in order to make her upset. She continued to express how she felt she was being discriminated against by her team, but her teammates explained that it wasn’t her race and that she used that excuse for why most players on the team didn’t like her. Despite Omarosa’s impressive academic background and important business input, she was kicked off the show after viewers were bored by her attitude toward her teammates. Another example of this is Olivia Caridi of, “The Bachelor” in season twenty. Olivia was a successful journalist, reporter and news anchor before entering The Bachelor. She was repeatedly bullied by the other women for being too loud and arrogant and only talking about herself. Those comments led into her being criticized about her cankles, large mouth and bad breath which turned into online bullying by fans. Olivia was dragged on the show while she saw a therapist because of suicidal thoughts due to the bullying and was later kicked off because she now was seen as having too much baggage. These women are made to be villains because they represent a powerful women and according to reality T.V, that is not attractive.
Pozner talks about how in reality television frames intelligent and well spoken women in a bad light. Smart women are made out to look like a mean or bad person. The reality show make these women also look pretentious and intimidating to other women and even the men on shows like “The Bachelor” and “America's Next Top Model” The shows do this because smart women are usually bad television. They do not want to play the games that the producers want them to play. I have an example that both supports and refutes this claim. One that supports was on the bachelor this season. A girl named Taylor Nolan, who is a mental health counselor with a masters, was eliminated on the bachelor because there was a lot of drama going on with this other girl named Corrine. The show did make Taylor look very condescending towards Corrine like being quoted saying that Corrine was not intelligent enough to be her friend. The viewers were happy that Taylor was eliminated from the show. The other example I have that refutes these claims is from a show that I actually watched and that is “Rock of Love”. This was a reality dating show to find love for Poison’s lead singer Bret Michaels. In season two of the show there were many girls that fit the bill of being on a reality show and there was also a woman named Ambre who was about 10 years older than the other contestants and she was smart, she had a child, and a career. She made it all the way to the final two going against a 25 year old with big fake boobs and over-sexualized named Daisy. Bret ended up choosing Ambre because Daisy was too much. So in some cases the smart girl does win. It still does not make reality television good.
I definitely agree with Pozners case, because just today in class when we watched an ANTM episode, there was this candidate named Victoria, that attended YALE and was perceived as intelligent. She didn’t have aspirations of being a model but decided to join anyways, when they displayed her on the show, they kept referencing back to her “intelligence” and how it makes it look arrogant. They critiqued her and made it clear that being a women and having a voice and showcasing your opinions aren’t flattering and that you should keep quiet. After she was in the bottom two they not only humiliated her before eliminating her, they said they eliminated her because of her actions (which happened to be her being “analytical Victoria”) it’s a true shame that these actions people take to humiliate women and shame them for having a “brain” on RTV shows are even allowed and accepted. Not only does it give it wrong interpretations for young women and adolescent girls that watch these shows, it gives boys and men wrong ideas too. That dating a woman with intelligence is unattractive and shouldn’t be praised.
Pozner knows what she is talking about because I watch a lot of reality TV and she’s not wrong about how more intelligent women are made to look pretentious or intimidating. For example, in today’s class we watched an episode of America’s Next Top Model. In this episode, there is this young woman who graduated from Yale and had no modeling experience, but decided to drop her previous career plans in order to pursue a modeling career. Not many people would assume that a Yale graduate would earn their degree and not use it in pursuing a career in that specific field, especially because she dropped it all to pursue a modeling career. In the episode, she makes it clear that she is an analytical type of person. At one point in the episode, she made a remark about how she would rather be dressed down and in the library instead of the photoshoot. The way that the show was edited, it took snippets of what she said to make it sound like she’s uppity and prissy. In the end, she was in the bottom two of the competition. The judges had made comments about how she has a “prickly” personality and ultimately eliminated her from the competition for not having the type of personality they see themselves working with. In my opinion, the girl did seem like she felt like she had more potential in doing something that had more stability, but it also could have just been the way the episode was edited. I noticed that they episode layout always had her talking either before or after a few of the other contestants who were made out to be stupid or emotional messes; whereas, the more intelligent girl seemed to look intimidating because she had herself more pulled together. The show just made it seem as though the contestant’s intelligence made her feel above the over girls and that her level of intelligence would cause a problem in working for people because she would be the kind to “talk back” to her employers. I honestly don’t think that there was a correlation to the woman standing up for herself against the judges criticizing her personality and how the woman would act toward an employer. Back to the point, Pozner is pretty spot on about how intelligent women on reality TV make for bad TV, so they only last for a little while before they get humiliated and kicked off the show.
In reference to the framing of intelligent women as pretentious or intimidating, Pozner cites Ya-ya Decosta and Elyse from ANTM and how Tyra uses words like “arrogant” or “pretentious” in reference to these girls. Repeatedly on the show, they are made to feel like their intelligence is a flaw or something that is going to hurt their prospects in the competition. Specifically when it comes to Elyse, Tyra eliminates her over the fact that when she spoke it made people feel like they were being talked down to. This kind of rhetoric on reality television allows the audience at home to see that a smart woman cannot be successful in the beauty industry or that in order to be beautiful you must also be dumb. Ya-ya received the same fate and was ultimately eliminated as well for being too “arrogant” or really just a confident intelligent black woman. Being an intelligent black woman, Pozner states, is not beneficial for reality TV who prefer their black women to be “ghetto” or loud and ignorant. Pozner also cites a contestant on “The Bachelor” who is a rocket scientist, when she states her career, the bachelor actually says “wow that’s intimidating” out-loud, driving home the idea that you are not desirable when you're intelligent. She is immediately eliminated, of course, because what kind of man wants a woman that smart, reminding women, that in this world that teaches us to always do everything to please a man, we must always be pretty before smart and never both. This kind of framing of intelligent women and force feeding young girls these warped ideas of how they can and cannot be, makes the fight for gender equality even harder than it already is. Telling the whole world that women generally are ditzy and dumb and should not be taken seriously is then projected to real life where we make less money than men and have to work twice as hard to prove ourselves in our careers and every day lives. These stereotypes help frame young girls' minds that everyone only wants you when “they shut up and look pretty.” -Megan J.
Pozner’s argument that intelligent women are often framed as pretentious or intimidating before being eliminated on reality TV is a stunt that is seen all the time on shows such as The Bachelor and America’s Next Top Model. This past season of the Bachelor probably had one of the most notable instances of this occurring for reality TV watchers. Taylor Nolan has probably been the biggest victim yet of this stunt. Taylor, who graduated from John Hopkins University, is a mental health counselor. She was very well spoken and proper which can come across as pretentiousness. Corrine Olympios is a business owner who was also poorly portrayed on the show as a sex driven, catty, and materialistic woman. Taylor and Corrine tended to butt heads often on the show and the producers took it as an opportunity to gain popularity by promoting the drama and making Taylor out to be a villain who was condescending and arrogant. When Taylor and Corrine would talk, Corrine was made out to seem dumb. For example, Taylor said that Corrine had little emotional intelligence and the scene made it look like Corrine had no idea what that was. They had kept cutting to shots of Taylor being straight faced and direct and shots of Corrine not knowing what to say. Shortly after being portrayed as the villain, Taylor was eliminated from the show. The producers had even taken it a step further by bringing Taylor back on the show right after she was eliminated to try to talk to Nick, The Bachelor, about how bad Corrine was. As if that was not enough, the final scene of the episode was Taylor performing a voodoo ritual in the woods. Not only did they portray her as pretentious and intimidating, they also had to portray her as crazy too.
I definitely agree with Pozner’s argument that intelligent women are often times framed as pretentions or intimidating on reality TV. There are so many examples of this throughout reality television, especially on ABC’s The Bachelor. I have been watching The Bachelor since high school, and over and over again I see women who are intelligent, well put together and actually have a career (not something bizarre like professional twin, chicken enthusiast or aspiring dolphin trainer) yet they are villainized and sent home early. This is prevalent on almost every season of The Bachelor, including this season that is currently on TV. This season, a woman I sympathize with is Taylor Nolan, eliminated week 5. Taylor has her master’s degree from John Hopkins University, is currently a mental health counselor and has done all of this by the age of 23 years old. She is extremely intelligent and well-spoken, yet the producers from The Bachelor made Taylor out to be a villain. She receives hate saying she is condescending, manipulative, and much more, all because she was not okay with how another contestant, Corrine Olympios, presented herself. The producers show Corrine as a sex crazy, materialistic, man obsessed, unintelligent yet beautiful woman, and America loves her. The producers created beef between the two contestants, but ultimately Taylor was sent home, and viewers were happy about it. I find it absurd that an accomplished woman is something that people do not want to encourage and build up, but instead is considered a threat and is eliminated. Backlash came from how producers showed Taylor, and according to an interview between Taylor and Entertainment Weekly, Taylor was “forced to take a pause from work since the show aired”. How viewers perceived an intelligent woman directly influenced what her employers saw her as, and jeopardized her job. Yet Corrine, one of America’s favorites, is still currently on the show. I believe it is time to start building women up to be more than just beautiful on the outside, however on TV producers will never do such a thing unless it is what viewers want. It starts with us, and it is time to get to work.
ReplyDeleteMadelynne S.
s
DeleteI agree on Pozner’s statement that intelligent woman are projected as a threat to their male counterpart. Due to the patriarchal ideal within society, we place men on a higher podium than women in variety of traits; one of which includes intelligence. Therefore when a woman shows proof of her superior knowledge in a certain category, whether it be educational, mechanical,or trivial, society attempts to neutralize her as a threat. One method of neutralization involves framing her as a sexual object. An in-class example examined the scene from Transformers where Angelina Jolie’s character was demonstrating her knowledge of cars over the male protagonist. The producers attempts to neutralize her by making her wear appealing attire and have the camera and male protagonist focus on her body than her mind.
ReplyDeleteAnother method television uses to discriminate against intelligent women is by depicting her as the antagonist or possess undesirable traits that were a side-effect of her intelligence. Examples of this can be seen in the television trope of “bossy bitch”, which emphasizes that the woman in charge is not only intelligent but is also either sexual deprived or possess undesirable characteristics such as rudeness. By including negatives traits to the intelligent female role, television sends a subconscious message to female audience; the message being that if they focus on their intelligence, it will decrease their chances of finding a partner or they’ll develop antisocial traits and end up isolated. The influence of this message can be seen in chinese culture. According to the Telegraph’s Sarah Keenlyside, chinese women consider themselves a failure if they are still single by the age of 28. Keenlyside states in her article that the percentage of women CEOs are increasing, but this increase of success produced a negative response in media. The media has began labeling women approaching 30 to be “leftovers” of society, deeming them undesirable due to their pursuit of success after college as opposed to settling to be a housewife.
Tommy L.
“Oh screw beautiful. I’m brilliant. If you want to appease me, compliment my brain.”
ReplyDeleteA perfect and empowering statement Dr. Yang exclaims in an episode of, Shonda Rhimes, Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a shame that this isn’t the case for reality TV. I absolutely agree with Pozner, intelligent women are often framed as pretentious or intimidating before being eliminated.
Although embarrassed to admit it, I’ve watched almost all the seasons of The Bachelor. As the women step out of the limo one by one in elegant dresses, I’m always intrigued in finding out what their professions are as they introduce themselves. Subconsciously I’m thinking, “wow, look how beautiful and smart these women are!” While watching one of the most recent episodes of the show, Taylor was known for having several altercations with another contestant instead of her achievements. As the youngest contestant, the first of her family to attend college at two prestigious schools, Stevens University and John Hopkins University, obtaining her license in mental health counseling and opening her own practice. Only 23 years old, this young woman had accomplished so much already and yet “Mental acuity isn’t considered cute on dating shows”, and she was “framed as ‘arrogant’ and ‘snooty’”. (116)
Just like Tyra Banks explains to contestant Elyse, a medical student, “There’s a way to use that intelligence in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re maybe putting down other people or sounding derogatory.” (115) I believe the producers of The Bachelor were portraying these negative attributes on to Taylor to reduce her intelligence. They created a new character with editing, to justify that all women fall under trope one; women are catty, bitchy, manipulative and not to be trusted, especially by other women.
It has become very evident that all the intelligent women are framed for being someone they truly aren’t in real life. I believe that they are eliminated fairly soon because they don’t mend to the producers character they casted for and stick out. The producers purposely edit and cut tapings to demean these women, ultimately showing that their intelligence is the last thing a man cares about.
Alexis S.
I agree with Pozner with his argument that intelligent women are often framed as pretentious or intimating before being eliminated on reality TV. One huge support for this argument comes from Tyra Banks, Americas Next Top Model. One contestant in particular named Yaya Dacosta who was actually a very intelligent student at Brown University. I say “was” because when we are first introduced to Yaya on the show Tyra admits how impressed she is with her resume but as the show goes on “impressed” quickly changes to dislike. Dislike for her character because that knowledge quickly becomes “ugly”. Yaya wanted to “represent a beauty that is black” but after being continuously barraged with insults on her “natural” look compared to the “glamorous” one they make her into on photos. And when she tries to defend not only her look but also the “clichés” that are insinuated with it, she is badgered by Tyra. “During evaluation, Tyra reiterated that ‘Yaya brings [a] superiority, condescending attitude’ that is ‘so ugly’” (Pozner 204). So from then on Yaya is pegged as a snob. Not only do the editors and producers of the show succeed in making her look this way but they succeed in making the audience believe this is her true character as well. “She was chosen as fasion designers’ favorite at client meetings, yet the judges condemned her as so stuck-up and hypersensitive that ‘no one will want to work with you’” (Pozner 2.4). Sadly this was the cause for Yaya’s elimination as second runner up in Americas Next Top Model finale. Unfortunately not only did this affect her success on the show but as well as her career. So not only can a fictional label conceived by others ultimately affect their view of who you are but it can also affect the way that others view you and how you view yourself.
ReplyDeleteMaria R
Yaya DaCosta was an educated and trilingual student who was proud of her natural beauty and was shunned by the judges of ANTM for simply “not wanting it enough”. This is a common reason why many women are kicked off the show with the premise that they are non-conforming and must leave the show simply because the individual did not try enough. When a woman is deemed as intelligent they are often framed as being too bourgeois and “stuck up”. Where, these women, many times women of color are told that they need to be humbled.
ReplyDeleteYaya DaCosta is initially praised for embracing her natural beauty and is the only contestant in history allowed to wear her hair in a natural ‘fro. Later in the season she is criticized for not being glamorous in person and a stylist tells her that her natural look would scare off advertisers. On this show women are often bullied and simply told that they are being bullied to prepare them for the tough world of modeling. But these women are humiliated publicly with the excuse that they knew what they were getting themselves into. The network and the producers are never blamed if women begin to hate themselves or go into shock, the individual is always blamed for any issues the judges, producers, stylists, or photographers find with the models. The idea being that in order to be accepted, these models must assimilate in order to become marketable. Yaya is told to apologize to a kente cloth hat, for protesting against being a cliché. Her punishment for opposing is that she is infantilized and told by the judges that her insubordination was unattractive. This is the reason why her punishment is that she must apologize to an inanimate object whose significance is its connection to African culture and pride. Marking Yaya’s convictions and protests as futile against the power and tirade of insults thrown by those in power-the Judges and by extension the network.
Aurora S
Pozner’s claim that intelligent women on reality TV are framed in a negative light to sabotage their chances of winning and get them off the show is definitely true and a clear example is Elyse on the first cycle of America’s Next Top Model. Elyse, a woman that was apparently med-school bound, was clearly favored to win and made it all the way to the season finale. Her great shot at winning the money, modelling contracts and photospread was ruined without even getting beat head-to-head. Tyra claimed that her intelligence was supposedly a good thing but that Elyse was failing to use it in a way that doesn’t intimidate others. What she likely means is that Elyse should keep her thoughts to herself instead of using big words and announcing to people that she could be a doctor as well as more successful than most of her competition at modeling. The show used forced solo interviews with drama-seeking questions to get Elyse to overshare on her negativity in a distasteful rant about how she seemed to think fellow cast-members were so stupid that she could not bear to hear them speak. Another example of reality shows’ negative portrayal of women with intelligence by Pozner is the rocket scientist on the show More to Love. As soon as Natasha said she was a rocket scientist in her introduction, the bachelor was clearly not happy and flat-out said that was “a little bit intimidating.” The bachelor, Luke, had her sent home as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteIn both America’s Next Top Model and More to Love, there seemed to be a harsh, sexist consequence of elimination as a direct result of signs of intelligence. Pozner is probably right to claim that reality TV is guilty of sexism in this matter, but these specific cases are not very good examples. Elyse actually did call her competition a bunch of idiots and it showed her in a very negative light. Intelligence can make people feel frustrated around stupid people but it is no excuse to be so rude. In the case of the rocket scientist, Luke himself was intimidated by it and it may have not even been an interaction planned by the producers. Her early elimination may have been a coincidence and simply a result of him not liking her as much as the other contestants.
Nikko A.
Pozner suggest that women who are intelligent, confident, and powerful are usually portrayed as being “bitchy” on reality TV. She claims that only females who are passive are rewarded and truly make it in showbiz. Women who do not fit into the mold of a pretty, young girl, without ambition or a voice are almost always cut from the show. Producers simply want someone who is easily manipulated and that will conform to the image of “reality” they wish to broadcast to American households. For example on the reality TV show “Atlanta” several housewives are put against each other and many follow the producers lead and lash out on screen. The show is known for it’s verbal and fist fights. However, one of the cast members of “Atlanta” season one, DeShawn Snow was not invited back for another season, according to Pozner, “Bravo considered her too dignified. A producer “said that I was ‘too human for a circus show’ “ (Pozner 2012:103). Many reality television producer’s look for potential “ firecrackers” women who can be set off on cue and have the ability to influence others around them. She also uses other examples from movies such as “Mulan” and Tiana from “ The Princess and The Frog”; they are both strong willed women who end up being punished for fighting what they believe in. Mulan takes her father’s place in the Emperor’s Army as a “man”, but when she is found out she is deserted and left to fend for herself, her fate could have been far worse. Tiana is transformed into a frog after kissing a frog prince and is later hunted by an evil Voodoo Priest, all for trying to do the right thing. All of these women share strong will and ambition, yet their storylines always seems to send them down a whirl wind into danger, as for reality TV stars they are punished and simply cut. That way girls all over the world will only see the construct of a “women” created by a producer, and not a real women.
ReplyDeleteSusana H.
Reality TV shows such as “The Bachelor” portray women as desperate for marriage and as though their only goal in life is to become someone’s wife. Women in reality TV shows are presented as airheads and gold diggers which makes others think it is okay to place these stereotypes on everyday women. Therefore when there’s a woman on TV who has her own career and thinks for herself it’s often looked down upon. This proves just how fragile masculinity is. Men like to consider themselves as providers and like they are needed by women, so when a women proves just how well off she is on her own it scares them. This fear is always channeled by calling these women derogatory terms and saying they are “prudes” or “stuck up” just because they don’t fall into the category of being weak and unintelligent.
ReplyDeleteJust before being eliminated on ANTM, Elyse, a medical student, was told by Tyra Banks, “One thing with [your] intelligence is it can intimidate people.” Why should a women be criticized for not being embarrassingly stupid? Another example is presented in the dating show More to Love where a participant called Natasha mentioned that she was a rocket scientist and the bachelor, Luke, responded by saying “My goodness. That’s a little bit intimidating.” This might have been the reasoning behind why he sent her home at the end of the episode. These women are often eliminated from these reality TV shows early on because it is evident that they won’t be easily manipulated to act a certain way or stir drama, which is what TV producers really want. However, by eliminating these intelligent women, the audience starts to perceive women in real life the same way they are perceived on reality TV.
Elizabeth G.
Throughout mainstream media, intelligent women have typically been portrayed as off-standish, boastful, and arrogant thus making them cast off—if they were even casted at all. With popularized tropes that imply that “Women are incompetent at home and at work” and “Women are stupid,” by casting dim-witted women to mock and fulfill these tropes, producers also eliminated intelligent women for being “intimidating,” and “arrogant.” In this unfortunate turn of events, this silences women and undermines the value of having a voice and being intelligent. This is evident throughout all representations of reality television from modeling to dating shows and so on. One of the most striking examples is Yaya DaCosta—a Brown University alumni. This impressive Ivy League graduate, however was ridiculed for her academic acclaims and achievements reinforcing Pozner’s notion that intelligent women come off as pretentious and intimidating. According to Pozner, “for the sins of expressing pride in her ethnic heritage, her intelligence, and her degrees in International Relations, and African Studies, Yaya was framed as “arrogant,” and “snotty.” (Page 116) The amazing attributes that contributed to the remarkable intellectual being she was unfortunately became the grounds upon which she was bashed for. And if that was not bad enough, Pozner further states that, “She [DaCosta] represented a double whammy: not only intellectually driven, but Black, that’s a losing combination in the reality TV universe.” (Page 116) Reality television values its African American participants as “Sapphires,” representing both implications of that word. Specifically however, reality television values the “ignorance” and “ghetto” portrayals demonstrated by the so-called “sapphires.” Another depressing showcase of how a young, intelligent women was discouraged and eliminated for her brains was 25 year old Natasha. On the Bachelor dating show admitted to being a rocket scientist—as if it was something to be ashamed about—which ultimately, unfortunately led to her downfall as the receiver of this message saw this as “intimidating,” and eliminated her after. This then poses as a major dilemma for women. Should they reinforce the tropes that dim-witted women are seen as more favorable? Or should they defy the boundaries set by reality television and become the amazing intellectuals they have the potential to achieve. The bitter truth of it is, whichever path women decide to choose will be stripping them away from possibilities because this trope of the intelligent women being far too intimidating is still very much present. As Pozner states, “no one wants a braniac in a bikini.” (Page 116)
ReplyDelete- Dorothy I.
Intelligent women on reality television seem to come around every now and again, but they are absolutely one of the minorities when it comes to characters on the shows. There was an interesting case of this on the latest season of The Bachelor. It came to my mind first because the contestant that was sent home recently was actually framed to be the “dumb girl” on the show, even though she was introduced as someone who helps run a multimillion dollar company. Throughout the first 8 weeks, she was mocked for being less intelligent than the other women, and she survived a double date elimination while Taylor, a woman who was framed as a highly intelligent person, was sent packing. Corrine’s fate seemed to take a turn after Nick, the bachelor, made his hometown visits. Corinne’s family, specifically her father, brought up the fact that she would most likely be the breadwinner of the family, because of her status with the company. Her father asked Nick if he would be okay with that and if it was something he could handle. Nick seemed genuine when he said yes, when he agreed that it would be alright if she made the most money in the house, however, Corinne went packing the next week. While it may have been alright in the moment, the idea that women can make the most money, or have the most power, seems to be quite an intimidating idea for men and society itself. Corinne thought her hometown visit went perfectly, she said it in the interview many times, and she broke into tears when she was sent home. She was framed to looks “dumb” and often put in positions to be mocked most of the season, but the moment we were able to see her in her hometown, with her family, thriving, it was too much. Suddenly the “dumb blonde” jokes would not work anymore and she actually became someone that most people could take seriously, and then suddenly she was gone.
ReplyDelete- Tessa B.
Pozner speculates in, “Reality Bites Back” that intelligent women represented on reality television are framed as being pretentious and intimidating and because of this, they are eliminated from the show. This observation has aligned with the research I have done by asking friends who are reality television fans and by watching clips of reality shows online. One example of this happening is Omarosa Manigualt of the reality show, “The Apprentice.” In this completion show, contestants team up and compete to test their business skills and are eliminated one by one by their teammates for lacking the ability to cooperate and/or not putting enough into business strategy. Omarosa was first introduced in season one, where she was teamed up with an all-white women team. While Omarosa attempted to become a leader in the group and express her ideas to the team, she was regularly bullied and gained up on by her other teammates. Her teammates described her as a, “controlling bitch” and constantly ignored her in order to make her upset. She continued to express how she felt she was being discriminated against by her team, but her teammates explained that it wasn’t her race and that she used that excuse for why most players on the team didn’t like her. Despite Omarosa’s impressive academic background and important business input, she was kicked off the show after viewers were bored by her attitude toward her teammates.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of this is Olivia Caridi of, “The Bachelor” in season twenty. Olivia was a successful journalist, reporter and news anchor before entering The Bachelor. She was repeatedly bullied by the other women for being too loud and arrogant and only talking about herself. Those comments led into her being criticized about her cankles, large mouth and bad breath which turned into online bullying by fans. Olivia was dragged on the show while she saw a therapist because of suicidal thoughts due to the bullying and was later kicked off because she now was seen as having too much baggage. These women are made to be villains because they represent a powerful women and according to reality T.V, that is not attractive.
Amelia M.
DeletePozner talks about how in reality television frames intelligent and well spoken women in a bad light. Smart women are made out to look like a mean or bad person. The reality show make these women also look pretentious and intimidating to other women and even the men on shows like “The Bachelor” and “America's Next Top Model” The shows do this because smart women are usually bad television. They do not want to play the games that the producers want them to play. I have an example that both supports and refutes this claim. One that supports was on the bachelor this season. A girl named Taylor Nolan, who is a mental health counselor with a masters, was eliminated on the bachelor because there was a lot of drama going on with this other girl named Corrine. The show did make Taylor look very condescending towards Corrine like being quoted saying that Corrine was not intelligent enough to be her friend. The viewers were happy that Taylor was eliminated from the show. The other example I have that refutes these claims is from a show that I actually watched and that is “Rock of Love”. This was a reality dating show to find love for Poison’s lead singer Bret Michaels. In season two of the show there were many girls that fit the bill of being on a reality show and there was also a woman named Ambre who was about 10 years older than the other contestants and she was smart, she had a child, and a career. She made it all the way to the final two going against a 25 year old with big fake boobs and over-sexualized named Daisy. Bret ended up choosing Ambre because Daisy was too much. So in some cases the smart girl does win. It still does not make reality television good.
ReplyDelete-Philip P.
I definitely agree with Pozners case, because just today in class when we watched an ANTM episode, there was this candidate named Victoria, that attended YALE and was perceived as intelligent. She didn’t have aspirations of being a model but decided to join anyways, when they displayed her on the show, they kept referencing back to her “intelligence” and how it makes it look arrogant. They critiqued her and made it clear that being a women and having a voice and showcasing your opinions aren’t flattering and that you should keep quiet. After she was in the bottom two they not only humiliated her before eliminating her, they said they eliminated her because of her actions (which happened to be her being “analytical Victoria”) it’s a true shame that these actions people take to humiliate women and shame them for having a “brain” on RTV shows are even allowed and accepted. Not only does it give it wrong interpretations for young women and adolescent girls that watch these shows, it gives boys and men wrong ideas too. That dating a woman with intelligence is unattractive and shouldn’t be praised.
ReplyDeletePozner knows what she is talking about because I watch a lot of reality TV and she’s not wrong about how more intelligent women are made to look pretentious or intimidating. For example, in today’s class we watched an episode of America’s Next Top Model. In this episode, there is this young woman who graduated from Yale and had no modeling experience, but decided to drop her previous career plans in order to pursue a modeling career. Not many people would assume that a Yale graduate would earn their degree and not use it in pursuing a career in that specific field, especially because she dropped it all to pursue a modeling career. In the episode, she makes it clear that she is an analytical type of person. At one point in the episode, she made a remark about how she would rather be dressed down and in the library instead of the photoshoot. The way that the show was edited, it took snippets of what she said to make it sound like she’s uppity and prissy. In the end, she was in the bottom two of the competition. The judges had made comments about how she has a “prickly” personality and ultimately eliminated her from the competition for not having the type of personality they see themselves working with. In my opinion, the girl did seem like she felt like she had more potential in doing something that had more stability, but it also could have just been the way the episode was edited. I noticed that they episode layout always had her talking either before or after a few of the other contestants who were made out to be stupid or emotional messes; whereas, the more intelligent girl seemed to look intimidating because she had herself more pulled together. The show just made it seem as though the contestant’s intelligence made her feel above the over girls and that her level of intelligence would cause a problem in working for people because she would be the kind to “talk back” to her employers. I honestly don’t think that there was a correlation to the woman standing up for herself against the judges criticizing her personality and how the woman would act toward an employer. Back to the point, Pozner is pretty spot on about how intelligent women on reality TV make for bad TV, so they only last for a little while before they get humiliated and kicked off the show.
ReplyDelete-Katelyn T.
In reference to the framing of intelligent women as pretentious or intimidating, Pozner cites Ya-ya Decosta and Elyse from ANTM and how Tyra uses words like “arrogant” or “pretentious” in reference to these girls. Repeatedly on the show, they are made to feel like their intelligence is a flaw or something that is going to hurt their prospects in the competition. Specifically when it comes to Elyse, Tyra eliminates her over the fact that when she spoke it made people feel like they were being talked down to. This kind of rhetoric on reality television allows the audience at home to see that a smart woman cannot be successful in the beauty industry or that in order to be beautiful you must also be dumb. Ya-ya received the same fate and was ultimately eliminated as well for being too “arrogant” or really just a confident intelligent black woman. Being an intelligent black woman, Pozner states, is not beneficial for reality TV who prefer their black women to be “ghetto” or loud and ignorant. Pozner also cites a contestant on “The Bachelor” who is a rocket scientist, when she states her career, the bachelor actually says “wow that’s intimidating” out-loud, driving home the idea that you are not desirable when you're intelligent. She is immediately eliminated, of course, because what kind of man wants a woman that smart, reminding women, that in this world that teaches us to always do everything to please a man, we must always be pretty before smart and never both. This kind of framing of intelligent women and force feeding young girls these warped ideas of how they can and cannot be, makes the fight for gender equality even harder than it already is. Telling the whole world that women generally are ditzy and dumb and should not be taken seriously is then projected to real life where we make less money than men and have to work twice as hard to prove ourselves in our careers and every day lives. These stereotypes help frame young girls' minds that everyone only wants you when “they shut up and look pretty.”
ReplyDelete-Megan J.
Pozner’s argument that intelligent women are often framed as pretentious or intimidating before being eliminated on reality TV is a stunt that is seen all the time on shows such as The Bachelor and America’s Next Top Model. This past season of the Bachelor probably had one of the most notable instances of this occurring for reality TV watchers. Taylor Nolan has probably been the biggest victim yet of this stunt. Taylor, who graduated from John Hopkins University, is a mental health counselor. She was very well spoken and proper which can come across as pretentiousness. Corrine Olympios is a business owner who was also poorly portrayed on the show as a sex driven, catty, and materialistic woman. Taylor and Corrine tended to butt heads often on the show and the producers took it as an opportunity to gain popularity by promoting the drama and making Taylor out to be a villain who was condescending and arrogant. When Taylor and Corrine would talk, Corrine was made out to seem dumb. For example, Taylor said that Corrine had little emotional intelligence and the scene made it look like Corrine had no idea what that was. They had kept cutting to shots of Taylor being straight faced and direct and shots of Corrine not knowing what to say. Shortly after being portrayed as the villain, Taylor was eliminated from the show. The producers had even taken it a step further by bringing Taylor back on the show right after she was eliminated to try to talk to Nick, The Bachelor, about how bad Corrine was. As if that was not enough, the final scene of the episode was Taylor performing a voodoo ritual in the woods. Not only did they portray her as pretentious and intimidating, they also had to portray her as crazy too.
ReplyDeleteKatherine C.