I recently watched one of the last episodes of The Bachelor, in which Nick, the lead, took Rachel out on a date. As a viewer, Rachel stands out among the other candidates. She is incredibly mature, intelligent, and has depth. Rachel is also one of the only black contestants on the show. Last night, it […]
RuPaul’s Drag Race simultaneously can challenge the binary and reinforce it. The cast consists of almost entirely gay men and gender queer people. Despite the homogeny of sexual identities on the show, the spectrum of privilege is broad. Not only do racial identities vary, but also class identities, histories of addiction, and fitness levels divide […]
I originally chose to look at RuPaul’s Drag Race because it’s my favorite reality TV show, but upon a closer look, the show highlights several different intersections between race, gender, and sexuality in both positive and negative ways. To start with the positives, Drag Race showcases almost exclusively gay men who bend ideals of gender […]
Between racial slurs and obvious discrimination to saying Atheists are nothing more than devil worshipers, in The Real World, season 31, Jenna causes a lot of controversy throughout the season based on the things that come out of her mouth. One episode in particular raised quite a stir on social media. In episode 4 […]
I just watched Season 32, Episode 1 of the Real World. I was particularly struck by the emphasis on certain heteronormative traditions. In one scene, the characters (contestants?) play a game of truth or dare, and one of the males has to bite the lip of the person across from him — it just so […]
In Episode 5 of Cycle 4 of America’s Next Top Model the ladies are asked to model for the classic “Got Milk?” campaign. In an attempt to make the ad campaign more “diverse looking” each girl was portrayed as a race other than their own. Many of the “white” women were made up to portray […]
This week I am responding to an article from The Guardian that is itself a response to criticisms of the Women’s March on Washington and related protests and marches across the country (and the world!) that occurred after Trump’s inauguration. I found this article while scrolling through my Facebook feed after our class a few […]
In this YouTube video, Joy DeGruy shares a story of her trip the the grocery store with her white-passing sister-in-law where Joy is discriminated against for paying with a check, even though her sister-in-law had no issue paying with a check just moments earlier. By using this video, we can see that the decision to […]
In light of the recent events, I thought it would be appropriate to share a video of actress America Ferrera’s opening speech for the Women’s March on Washington. In her speech, she addresses the refusal that a single politician can represent the great diversity of the United States, and highlights the necessity for unity […]
This Ted Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw directly correlates to her literature piece we read in class. Her Ted Talk begins with an elimination activity where the audience stands and she begins naming off names of people who have died as a result of police violence. If anyone in the audience does not recognize the name, […]
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