Reality Television (eBook)

Alison F. Slade is an independent scholar whose research interests include reality television, social media, and fan culture.Amber J. Narro is associate professor of communication at Southeastern Louisiana University.Burton P. Buchanan is assistant professor of mass communication at Auburn University at Montgomery.

Introduction: Reality Television in Popular CultureAlison F. Slade1. Portrayals of Masculinity in The Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”Burton P. Buchanan 2. “I Was Born This Way”: The Performance and Production of Southern Masculinity in A&E’s Duck DynastyLeandra H. Hernandez3. You Better ‘Redneckognize’!: Deploying the Discourses of Realness, Social Defiance, and Happiness to Defend Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on FacebookAndre Cavalcante 4. Are you ready for your 15 minutes of shame? Louisiana Lockdown and Narrative in Prison Reality TelevisionElizabeth Barfoot Christian5. Bravo’s “The Real Housewives”: Living the (Capitalist) American Dream?Nicole B. Cox 6. Frugal Reality TV During the Great Recession: A Qualitative Content Analysis of TLC’s Extreme Couponing Rebecca M. Curnalia 7. Bigger, Fatter, Gypsier: Gender Spectacles and Cultural Frontlines in My Big Fat American Gypsy WeddingGordon Alley-Young8. Odd or Ordinary: Social Comparisons Between Real and Reality TV FamiliesPamela L. Morris and Charissa K. Niedzwiecki9. The Lolita Spectacle & the Aberrant Mother: Exploring the Production and Performance of Manufactured Femininity in Toddlers & TiarasLeandra H. Hernandez 10. Manifest Masculinity: Frontier, Fraternity and Family in Discovery Channel’s Gold RushWilliam C. Trapani and Laura L. Winn 11. Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew: A Wicked Brew of Fame, Addiction, and Cultural NarcissismChristopher Mapp 12. ‘Born’ Survivors and their Trickster Cousins:Masculine Primitive Ideals and Manly (Re)Creation on Reality TelevisionMatthew P. Ferrari13. Catfished: Exploring Viewer Perceptions of Online RelationshipsLeslie Rasmussen 14. “‘I See Swamp People:’ Swamp People, Southern Horrors and Reality Television”Julie Haynes ConclusionAmber J. Narro About the Contributors