Reality Television as Sideshow: Implications for Disability Studies

• In Event: Roundtable Session 45
  In Roundtable Session: Critically Literate Buyer Beware! Menstruation, Alcohol, Tattoos, and Reality TV

Abstract

This paper addresses the social construction of concepts of disability, and normalcy amid the current state of reality television series focused on human beings who fall outside the general definition of typical. The significance of the findings is the seeming return to the days of exhibition and exploitation of individuals with physical and mental challenges. The privacy afforded by cable television and viewing on DVDs allows a form of “public viewing” of these individuals by mass audience that include people who would not necessarily admit to such activities. Concepts of gender, fame, and shame were explored within a framework of social construction of ability, handicap, disability, and normal.

Author

• Cathy C. Leogrande, Le Moyne College