Bad Feminist summary

The term "reality television” is misleading. It doesn’t present real life, but a warped version of reality. And the same can be said of the representation of women on reality shows. So often, they’re performing an over-the-top, unrealistic stereotype of their gender.

There are certain common stereotypes about women: that they’re desperate to fall in love and get married, that they’re obsessed with their weight and that jealousy prevents them from forming true friendships with other women. Reality TV does nothing to dispel these stereotypes. Watch any reality show, and you’ll see plenty of these types in the cast.

Rape is a horrific crime that can leave victims both physically and emotionally damaged. That’s why so many television shows use rape storylines to inject drama and boost their ratings.

Some programs are fueled almost exclusively by traumatic stories of sexual violence toward women. Just look at the TV series Law and Order: SVU. It’s covered so many rape-related plots that each new episode must go the extra mile to keep the audience engaged – adding increasingly gruesome details and twists. This means that it’s no longer particularly shocking for an audience to see a man "just” forcefully penetrating a woman. We’re so used to seeing rape victims left disfigured, beaten or subjected to any number of other ordeals that forceful penetration on its own isn’t seen as that bad anymore. It takes a lot more to provoke disgust in an audience numbed by overexposure to rape stories.

In 2011, The Help was released in movie theaters. Set in segregated Mississippi in the 1960s, it was a feel-good tale about a group of African-American maids who served privileged white families. It may have been praised by critics and popular with audiences, but when it came to furthering racial equality, it was the opposite of successful.

The film exploited certain stereotypes, including the “magical negro” and the “white savior narrative.” The magical negro is a black character whose main attributes include kindness, wisdom and an element of the supernatural. She always uses those traits to help the white protagonist – not herself. The magical negro trope is popular with white audiences because they can feel good about watching a positive portrayal of a black person. What they don’t notice, however, is that this stereotype isn’t really a fully formed character – it’s just a catalyst for the white protagonist’s goals.

Mass shootings are a near-daily occurrence in the United States. Far more Americans have died as a result of these random acts of violence than at the hands of radicalized terrorists, but attacks carried out by white men are never labeled acts of terrorism.

It seems that people can always find a reason why a white man who commits a terrorist act is deep-down a good person, just as the same people can always find a reason why an innocent black boy is bad.