1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910484248303321

Autore

Lovelock Michael

Titolo

Reality TV and Queer Identities : Sexuality, Authenticity, Celebrity / / by Michael Lovelock

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer International Publishing : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2019

ISBN

9783030142155

3030142159

Edizione

[1st ed. 2019.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (ix, 205 pages)

Collana

Gale eBooks

Disciplina

791.45653

791.4565266

Soggetti

Motion pictures

Television broadcasting

Queer theory

Celebrities

Film and Television Studies

Queer Studies

Celebrity Studies

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction -- 2. 'Real' queers on television: from heteronormativity to compulsory authenticity -- 3. Queerness as authenticity in reality TV -- 4. Born This Way: Authenticity as Essentialism in Reality TV -- 5. Resurgent Heteronormativity in Reality Pop -- 6. Working and werking: Queerness, labour and neoliberal self-branding in reality TV -- 7. Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book examines queer visibility in reality television, which is arguably the most prolific space of gay, lesbian, transgender and otherwise queer media representation. It explores almost two decades of reality programming, from Big Brother to I Am Cait, American Idol to RuPaul's Drag Race, arguing that the specific conventions of reality TV-its intimacy and emotion, its investments in celebrity and the ideal of authenticity-have inextricably shaped the ways in which queer people have become visible in reality shows. By challenging popular



judgements on reality shows as damaging spaces of queer representation, this book argues that reality TV has pioneered a unique form of queer-inclusive broadcasting, where a desire for authenticity, rather than being heterosexual, is the norm. Across all chapters, this book investigates how reality TV's celebration of 'compulsory authenticity' has circulated 'acceptable' and 'unacceptable'ways of being queer, demonstrating how possibilities for queer visibility are shaped by broader anxieties and around selfhood, identity and the real in contemporary cultural life. .