Gender Manipulation and Reality Television

Reality television has become a staple of American society. It dominates primetime television on just about every network, at least one evening a week. When selecting a television program to watch, most Americans opt for a reality program, because of the lack of choices and sheer pleasure that society, as a whole tends to get from living vicariously through other people’s lives. As we continue to be regular viewers of reality television, the ratings continue to grow and the popularity of reality television continues to rise. To the American public, reality television has become the new choice drug and television networks and producers are just fueling the addiction.

MTV’s Real World is a program that has been said to start the reality television craze. With the first season of the Real World airing in 1992, the groundwork was laid for all future seasons to come. The framework of the show was built so that seven strangers, who are picked by the producers to live in a house together and have every moment of the five months spent there taped. The members of the household work at the same location and virtually spend the whole five months getting to know each other and getting underneath each other’s skin.