Real Sister
Stereotypes, Respectability, and Black Women in Reality TV
Edited by Jervette R. Ward
Rutgers University Press
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.
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.
Every now and then a publication arrives that's right on time, and Real Sister is the read of the season … Cue the book club debates!
Real Sister makes a significant contribution to existing scholarship by establishing links between depictions of black women in television and a longer-running history of representations of black women in literature and popular culture tropes.
A frank meditation on the images of black women in television’s most dominant form, Real Sister exposes the ways in which the ambivalent pleasures derived from reality TV’s obligatory train wrecks implicate black women as both victim and entrepreneur.
JERVETTE R. WARD is an assistant professor of English at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acknowledgments
Introduction The Real Scandal: Portrayals of Black Women in Reality TV
Jervette R. Ward
Chapter 1 Black Women: From Public Arena to Reality TV
Sheena Harris
Chapter 2 Selective Reuptake: Perpetuating Misleading Cultural Identities in the Reality Television World
LaToya Jefferson-James
Chapter 3 Striving to Dress the Part: Examining the Absence of Black Women in Different Iterations of Say Yes to the Dress
Alison D. Ligon
Chapter 4 The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Cynthia Davis
Chapter 5 A Home without Walls, A Family without Boundaries: How Family Participation in Reality Television Impacts Children’s Development
Detris Honora Adelabu
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
Monica Flippin-Wynn
Chapter 7 Questions of Quality and Class: Perceptions of Hierarchy in African American Family–Focused Reality TV Shows
Preselfannie E. Whitfield McDaniel
Chapter 8 Contemplating Basketball Wives: A Critique of Racism, Sexism, and Income-Level Disparity
Sharon Lynette Jones
Chapter 9 Exploiting and Capitalizing on Unique Black Femininity: An Entrepreneurial Perspective
Terry A. Nelson
Chapter 10 Reunion Chapter: A Conversation among Contributors
Jervette R. Ward
Appendix Reality TV Shows That Prominently Feature Black Women
Notes on Contributors
Index
Introduction The Real Scandal: Portrayals of Black Women in Reality TV
Jervette R. Ward
Chapter 1 Black Women: From Public Arena to Reality TV
Sheena Harris
Chapter 2 Selective Reuptake: Perpetuating Misleading Cultural Identities in the Reality Television World
LaToya Jefferson-James
Chapter 3 Striving to Dress the Part: Examining the Absence of Black Women in Different Iterations of Say Yes to the Dress
Alison D. Ligon
Chapter 4 The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Cynthia Davis
Chapter 5 A Home without Walls, A Family without Boundaries: How Family Participation in Reality Television Impacts Children’s Development
Detris Honora Adelabu
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
Monica Flippin-Wynn
Chapter 7 Questions of Quality and Class: Perceptions of Hierarchy in African American Family–Focused Reality TV Shows
Preselfannie E. Whitfield McDaniel
Chapter 8 Contemplating Basketball Wives: A Critique of Racism, Sexism, and Income-Level Disparity
Sharon Lynette Jones
Chapter 9 Exploiting and Capitalizing on Unique Black Femininity: An Entrepreneurial Perspective
Terry A. Nelson
Chapter 10 Reunion Chapter: A Conversation among Contributors
Jervette R. Ward
Appendix Reality TV Shows That Prominently Feature Black Women
Notes on Contributors
Index
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