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Ella Johnson

Fieldings

WRTC 103

4 October 2017

Rhetorical Analysis:

Reality Television has been grabbing the attention of the country for countless years but

it hard not to doubt that anyone has thought to truly speak up about the truth behind these shows.

In the article, Reality TV Intentionally Subverts Social Progress and Gender Equality, Pozner

is able to effectively use ethos, pathos, and logos to convey to the reader that reality television is

presently damaging gender equality, as well as applying a wide variety of stereotypes towards

women, in particular. The argument being covered in this article focuses mainly on gender

inequality, specifically involving women. A wide variety of reality television shows are

mentioned as evidence supporting this claim, as well.

The entirety of this article focuses on gender inequality found in reality TV. Specifically,

it focuses on inequality towards womens rights. Pozner uses a scholarly style of writing to state

the accomplishments of women over the years in society and how successful and productive they

are in society, but reality television has come out and shown the exact opposite of this idea. The

backlash has never been more overt than what is currently found in reality TV relationship

shows. Examples given included, The Bachelor, The Real Housewives, Wife Swap, etc. Shows

such as The Bachelor focus on women as an object rather than a human being. In the show, a

group of women are brought together where they basically change their true character to fit the

needs of the man looking for a wife. Pozner also focuses on the power imbalances between men

and women found in these shows. Men mainly play the leading role and women are placed in
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roles meant to make them look ditzy or absorbed and they literally worship the male character

in the show. Other shows, such as The Real Housewives, portray women as wanting to live lives

of leisure and be able to stay home all day complaining about their lives and gossiping. The

article is directed towards a wide range of people, which mostly includes anyone with interest to

the topic.

Pozner is able to effectively use ethos in her writing in order to show the reader her

credibility and successfully represent herself in this piece. The reader is able to know Pozner is a

credible writer based off the short introduction given in her article, which states, Jennifer L.

Pozner is founder and executive director of Women In Media & News (WIMN), a media

analysis, education and advocacy group. She is also managing editor of WIMNs Voices, the

popular group blog on women and the media. Her book, Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth

About Guilty Pleasure TV (Seal Press, Nov. 1, 2010), grew out of WIMNs media analysis

program (P.1). Based off this information, the reader is able to understand that Pozner is a well-

known editor with a wide range of knowledge in the topic of womens rights and gender

equality. We also see a wide range of support information, such as when she mentions specific

television shows, including, The Bachelor and The Real Housewives. Based off of these

observations in her writing the reader is able to understand the credibility of Pozners writing.

Next, Pozners use of logos provides the reader with specific facts and details that back

up and support the claims she makes about gender equality in reality television. One major

example Pozner includes is that, In 2003, as female athletes scored new records in tennis, figure

skating, soccer, swimming and pole vaulting, UPN unveiled America's Next Top Model, teaching

young women that their bodies are valuable only as decorative props for advertisersthe

skinnier and weaker the better (P.4). This fact states how in society today women are excelling
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on all levels in sports and breaking barriers every day, but shows such as Americas Next Top

Model are only going on to compare women as an object that has certain standards to meet in

order to be valuable in society. Another example Pozner states that, ..in 2008, just as Hillary

Clinton was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination and Sarah Palin became

the GOP's first female VP candidate, Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise showcased women

who aspire mostly to lives of leisure(P.4). Similarly to the other example of logos, this quote

further exemplifies how women are breaking gender barriers and reaching levels similar to men

but degrading shows are overshadowing the great accomplishments of women today. Pozners

use of logos allows the reader to understand, based off of factual evidence, how gender

inequality is seen in television and overpowering womens true accomplishments.

Lastly, the reader is able to see Pozners use of pathos, which she artfully uses to evoke

emotion and allow the reader to connect to her writing. One major example of pathos states,

Through insults, paternalism and universal statements about "the male mind," Ward commands

women to follow his "boot camp" rules or be alone forever. If he can't "train" these "slutty,"

"dumb," "soul-sucking" "losers," he barks, they'll never be able to land "Mr. Right."(P. 6).

Through Pozners skillful use of words, she can evoke the readers emotion by quoting harsh and

hurtful words used to describe and degrade women found in television. Pozners use of pathos

and the way she describes how women are being degraded, treated different and stereotyped

truly allows the reader to feel angered and upset about the hurtful statements towards women.

Pozners article, Reality TV Intentionally Subverts Social Progress and Gender

Equality, is a highly relevant article in society today. Today, most of the reality TV shows

mentioned in the article are still extremely prominent on TV. Women are highly successful in

society today but reality TV portrays them as dumb and making them look like servants to men.
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This is not true of what is happening in society, therefore making this argument extremely

relevant. And, through her use of the rhetorical appeals Pozner is able to further convey the

gender inequality found in reality television today.

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Works Cited

Pozner, Jennifer. Reality TV Intentionally Subverts Social Progress and Gender Equality.

Gale, 2013,

ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?disableHig

hlighting=false&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&currPage=&scanId=&query=&docInd

ex=&source=&prodId=OVIC&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&mode=view&catId=&

u=viva_jmu&limiter=&display-

query=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE|E

J3010307246&windowstate=normal&activityType=BasicSearch&failOverType=&comm

entary=.

About the Author. Reality Bites Back Book, 15 Feb. 2016,

www.realitybitesbackbook.com/about the-author/.