Reality television is one of the most popular industries in our country, but this “mindless” television may be negatively impacting our society. While the industry may have started out honest and “real” it has since been fabricating and manipulating it’s shows in efforts to bring in the highest ratings possible. Kaitlyn Bristowe, star of the Bachelorette, confirmed this in her TEDx interview conducted by Riaz Meghji. When asked the question “Why does reality TV work?”, Bristowe claims that reality TV and the industry’s authenticity is “gone” (Bristowe, 2015). Bristowe also claims that the situations that the cast of these shows are placed in are fake and unrealistic. Respective to this claim, the industry has seemed to show the cultures of our society in different lights, promoting negative racial stereotypes. The industry does this through shows such as Bad Girls Club and The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Reality television negatively affects society’s perception of African Americans by promoting harmful stereotypes, encouraging humiliating behavior, and staging or scripting scenes they believe will attract viewers. This harmfully impacts our society as a whole as well as the development of racial identity. 

The argument against reality television is that the way in which they fabricate and script their shows is harmful to African Americans due to the stereotypes they promote. In the book The Ethics of Reality TV: A Philosophical Examination, Christopher Meyers presents the concept that it is up to the individual on how they are perceiving what they are watching. This claim takes the full blame off of the industry and holds the viewers accountable for how they are viewing the content they are presented with. While the industry may entice humiliating behavior and stereotypes, in the end they rely on the eventual success of their characters (Meyers, 4-6). Despite the audience of these shows having some control over how they are perceiving what they are viewing, it is difficult to dispute these stereotypes when they are being presented with the same general content every week. In Arianna Davis’ article “As a Brown Woman, do I need to Quit Reality TV?” she addresses this issue. Davis claims that on shows such as Love & Hip Hop, there is so much fighting and physical violence that she has “become immune” to watching it. In fact, what made Davis finally realize the amount of violence in these shows was a problem, was her “lack of reaction” to it. These shows have normalized the stereotype of a “loud, angry, and violent” to the extent that it is almost expected from these women each week. While this type of behavior is damaging, it is also the most popular amongst audiences. Out of all of the Real Housewives franchise, the Real Housewives of Atlanta has proved to be the most popular and most watched (Monroe, 36). This specific spinoff of the show is the most violent and dramatic of the franchise and also happens to have a prominently African American cast. The way that these women are portrayed on the show does a “disservice” to black women by reinforcing negative stereotypes (Monroe, 36). The difference can be seen when comparing the Atlanta housewives to the mostly white housewives from Beverly Hills. While most of the drama comes from the physical fights in Atlanta, there is rarely any physical violence among the Beverly Hills housewives, instead there is verbal drama. 

Along with the negative aspects, there also seem to be some beneficial aspects to watching reality television. Watching reality TV programs can be an “escape” from real life and can be viewed as “pure entertainment” (Gennis, 2013). In her article defending the merits of reality television, Sadie Gennis claims that people should not have to “use the phrases like ‘guilty pleasure’” as excuse to watch these shows. Gennis uses Jersey Shore as an example of a show viewers should be able to watch guilt free as a way to unwind from the day and their own real lives. Today’s television shows “can be so gritty and depressing”, so why not embrace reality television and “have fun” because “That’s what TV’s for” (Gennis, 2013). While there may be some balance of beneficial reality television shows, and negative ones, that difference is also applicable to the balance of shows between races. Holly Robinson Pete recognizes that there are “plenty of white women acting a fool on television” however she also claims that they have a balance with shows about them running their own companies, raising their children, and their “loving relationships” (as qtd by Samuels, 2011). There are ways around the system however, Star Jones, Celebrity Apprentice contestant claims that because the industry receives good ratings for “pitting us against each other” those who are involved need to be “smart enough to know how to handle it” (as qtd by samuels, 2011). Jones makes the claim that those who make the choice to participate in reality television shows should have a plan as she did, which was to publicize her book and raise money for heart disease. However, African American women should not have to come up with a “plan” in order to not look bad and be scrutinized on reality television. The industry should produce shows about the success of African American women as much as they produce them for white women. 

While Jones might advise the women of color who partake on these shows to have a plan for themselves, Keli Goff claims that people of color should not aspire to be part of the industry at all. In this article Goff analyzes a lawsuit that was filed against the popular show The Bachelor for casting discrimination. The show has been accused of being “white-washed” due to the producers believing that if the bachelor was an African American, it would “lead fans to stop watching” (Glouner). According to Goff the two places he views African Americans are “overrepresented” are prisons and “bad reality television”. The way that African Americans are represented in the reality television industry “devalues the group as whole” and does not improve the quality or equality in any way (Goff, 2012). The formula of success for this industry is continuously proving to be “angry women of color getting into fistfights” and other altercations through shows such as Basketball wives, Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Bad Girls Club (Goff, 2012). Like Davis, Goff believes that the viewers of these shows are just as guilty as the casts of them, especially those of color. This distinction between shows with different races can be seen even more clearly with the The Bachelor and Flavor of Love. The industry has become so focused on getting as many ratings and viewers as possible have driven them away from being politically correct and even reproducing the same shows with one simple difference, the race of the cast (Glouner). Glouner also analyzes the statistics of the few women of color that do appear on The Bachelor. According the statistics there have generally been 1-4 women of color in a cast of 30 and have all been either eliminated or voluntarily left within the first couple of weeks (Glouner). Aside from the contestants on the show all of the seasons of the show have featured white bachelors. The book “Reality Bites Back” by Jennifer Pozner, argues that the show Flavor of Love misrepresents women of color by their contestants getting in catfights, stripping, and cussing each other out while drunk. Due to the host of the show, Flavor Flave, praising this behavior, the audience of the show “develop a false sense of reality” of women of color (Pozner 2010). 

In the section of the book “The Reference Shelf: Racial Tensions in a “Post-Racial” Age” discussing the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of minorities in American media, the Author, Micah Issitt, is conveying the unfair ways that the media unknowingly represents them, even when they are intentionally trying not to. Issitt’s aim is to inform American audiences that the way minorities and different races are portrayed in the media distort our vision of reality. Issitt does this by providing examples of the “token” minority characters that are depicted in reality television. Issitt’s projection of this section of the book allows for him to plant an idea in the reader’s minds that will enable them to seek and recognize these stereotypes in what they are watching. Issitt also backs his claims by citing the University of Southern California, Pew Research, and researcher Travis Dixon with all of his statistics on the ways minorities are represented, and the number of whites in power versus the number of minorities in power in TV Stations. Issitt’s tells American viewers that what they are watching, even if they might not think anything of it, are hurtful stereotypes of minorities. This book also calls out the TV industry for consisting of a prominent white staff and therefore they don’t show the diversity they should. They just show the stereotypes that they might think are accurate, and even when they are intentionally trying to not misrepresent or underrepresent minorities, they are. Issitt’s claims can be backed up by Melissa Harris-Perry in the YouTube video “Is Reality TV Damaging the Image of Black Women?”.  In her msnbc broadcast, Perry claims that in most cases, mainstream media shows the lives of African American women through stereotypes “rather than complicated and full human beings”. While the industry may have noticed that there is a market for targeting more shows towards black women, many of them have missed the mark by producing theses violent and stereotypical shows filled with swearing and violence. Because the industry “produces what there is a market for”, Perry poses the question why are so many of us tuning into these shows instead of debating whether or not these shows represent black women in a positive or negative manner?

The way in which reality television uses stereotypes does not only impact the way in which people of color are viewed, but also the development of African American’s racial identity (Tyree, 395). In her research of the ways in which African American stereotypes are portrayed in reality television, Tia Tyree makes the claim that the minority groups that are affected and “targeted” by these stereotypes are aware of it (399). When presented with a scenario in which people develop a “fear of living up to the stereotypes” a predicament presents itself called a “stereotype threat” (400). This mainly impacts adolescents whom are attempting to develop their racial identities by causing them dangerous amounts of distress and can ultimately affect how one “performs at work or in academics or athletics” (400). This predicament causes young African Americans to grow up thinking that, because of the way society perceives them, they have to grow up to act a certain way or have a certain job. This is dangerous to our society because it puts a mental and emotional limit on others to be their unique selves and apply their own knowledge and desires to their lives. On the same note, () , in their blog post “Effects of Reality Television”, tells us that the media is simply showing the audience what they enjoy watching. () Also acknowledges that this can be a dangerous thing for young adolescents who “may see this as an action that they should perform if in a certain situation” (). As in the case of violence, if a young adolescent witnesses violence on television shows, and consider it acceptable behavior, they are more likely to be violent themselves. Harris-Perry’s broadcast also touches on this subject when she asks star of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kenya Moore, why she thinks the show is so successful. Moore responds to Perry by claiming that no matter the race the women who watch the show “they identify with the women they are seeing”.  The reality television industry should be more aware of what actions and behaviors that they are presenting to viewers and the potential effects that the content will have, especially on adolescents whom are developing their identity. 

The ways in which African Americans are depicted in the reality television industry negatively impact our society. Between the effects on the perception of these stereotypes and the development of their own racial identity, reality TV is harmful. The industry has become so overwhelmingly concerned with ratings and viewers that the producers are willing to take shortcuts in the casting process by casting stereotypical people. The industry is also guilty of manufacturing its content and in some cases even scripting situations in order to provide “entertaining” fights whether it be verbal or physical. While reality television may have some benefits of relaxation and may seem to be “pure entertainment” at first glance, the ways in which they exploit the stereotypes of people of color, especially women, are harmful. African American women can help prevent the promotion of these stereotypes by either having a plan for themselves and knowing how to handle the situation that they will be thrown in to, or not watching the shows in general. Reality television manipulates it’s content to play into the “angry black women” stereotype and not only promotes, but glorifies the verbal and physical violence of its cast leading to poor perception of the culture but also the hindering of the development of the race as a whole. If reality television continues to do promote these stereotypes the way they are now, the stereotypes will grow stronger and potentially affect the growth of African American adolescents and their identities. 
