1 0
    £23.66 GBP
    £23.66 GBP
    Sale Sold out
    Free UK Shipping

    Freshly Printed - allow 7 days lead

    Real Sister
    Stereotypes, Respectability, and Black Women in Reality TV

    Jervette R. Ward (Edited by), Jervette R. Ward (Contributions by), Sheena Harris (Contributions by), LaToya Jefferson-James (Contributions by), Alison D. Ligon (Contributions by), Cynthia Davis (Contributions by), Detris Honora Adelabu (Contributions by), Monica Flippin Wynn (Contributions by), Preselfannie E. Whitfield McDaniels (Contributions by), Sharon Lynette Jones (Contributions by), Terry A. Nelson (Contributions by)

    9780813575063

    Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2015

    208 pages
    22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.34 kg

    "Every now and then a publication arrives that's right on time, and Real Sister is the read of the season … Cue the book club debates!"
    - #1 in Patrik's Picks (Essence Magazine)
    "A frank meditation on the images of black women in television’s most dominant form, Real Sister exposes the ways in which the ambivalent pleasures derived from reality TV’s obligatory train wrecks implicate black women as both victim and entrepreneur."
    - Darnell Hunt (editor of Channeling Blackness)
    "Real Sister makes a significant contribution to existing scholarship by establishing links between depictions of black women in television and a longer-running history of representations of black women in literature and popular culture tropes."
    - Leigh H. Edwards (author of The Triumph of Reality TV: The Revolution in American Television)

    From The Real Housewives of Atlanta to Flavor of Love, reality shows with predominantly black casts have often been criticized for their negative representation of African American women as loud, angry, and violent. Yet even as these programs appear to be rehashing old stereotypes of black women, the critiques of them are arguably problematic in their own way, as the notion of “respectability” has historically been used to police black women’s behaviors.
     
    The first book of scholarship devoted to the issue of how black women are depicted on reality television, Real Sister offers an even-handed consideration of the genre. The book’s ten contributors-black female scholars from a variety of disciplines-provide a wide range of perspectives, while considering everything from Basketball Wives to Say Yes to the Dress. As regular viewers of reality television, these scholars are able to note ways in which the genre presents positive images of black womanhood, even as they catalog a litany of stereotypes about race, class, and gender that it tends to reinforce.
     
    Rather than simply dismissing reality television as “trash,” this collection takes the genre seriously, as an important touchstone in ongoing cultural debates about what constitutes “trashiness” and “respectability.” Written in an accessible style that will appeal to reality TV fans both inside and outside of academia, Real Sister thus seeks to inspire a more nuanced, thoughtful conversation about the genre’s representations and their effects on the black community. 

    Acknowledgments
    Introduction     The Real Scandal: Portrayals of Black Women in Reality TV
    Jervette R. Ward
    Chapter 1         Black Women: From Public Arena to Reality TV
    Sheena Harris
    Chapter 2         Selective Reuptake: Perpetuating Misleading Cultural Identities in the Reality Television World
    LaToya Jefferson-James
    Chapter 3         Striving to Dress the Part: Examining the Absence of Black Women in Different Iterations of Say Yes to the Dress
    Alison D. Ligon
    Chapter 4         The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta
    Cynthia Davis
    Chapter 5         A Home without Walls, A Family without Boundaries: How Family Participation in Reality Television Impacts Children’
    s Development
    Detris Honora Adelabu
    Chapter 6         Where Is Clair Huxtable When You Need Her?: The Desperate Search for Positive Media Images of African American Women in the Age of Reality TV
    Monica Flippin-Wynn
    Chapter 7         Questions of Quality and Class: Perceptions of Hierarchy in African American Family–
    Focused Reality TV Shows
    Preselfannie E. Whitfield McDaniel
    Chapter 8         Contemplating Basketball Wives: A Critique of Racism, Sexism, and Income-Level Disparity
    Sharon Lynette Jones
    Chapter 9         Exploiting and Capitalizing on Unique Black Femininity: An Entrepreneurial Perspective
    Terry A. Nelson
    Chapter 10       Reunion Chapter: A Conversation among Contributors
    Jervette R. Ward
    Appendix        Reality TV Shows That Prominently Feature Black Women
    Notes on Contributors
    Index
    View full details