Why do we love “trashy” reality TV shows, black African American women and the white working class in British reality TV

Because they’re fucking amazing, that’s why. The storyline, the characters, the scenes, the fights, the settings, the love, the romance, the drama, it’s quality television and I don’t want to hear another patronising word about it. An occasional Aryan Brotherhood or Louis Theroux documentary salvages my IQ, surely? I watch Planet Earth, surely that’s good enough? Telling me my favourite past time is a waste of my time is irritating to say the least. Particularly from people who watch men kick a ball about on a regular basis. However, my argument is slightly nuanced than that. My love of reality television doesn’t blind me to the fact that there is still space to question why it’s such a successful phenomenon. Different sectors of reality television: celebrity, dance, dating and relationship, modelling-themed ‎, property ‎, tattooing and wedding reality television shows, fall in different places on the “trashy” scale. What makes them trashy, though? What’s so wrong about wanting to see a girl getting dragged by her synthetic weave across the laminate floor of the Bad Girls Club mansion whilst a security guard makes a half-hearted attempt to salvage her?

Race and class plays into it. Love and Hip Hop — all cities- , Bad Girls Club — all cities — are full of black people and specifically, black women. If society neatly categorised shows into trashy, trashier and trashiest- these shows would fit comfortably into the ‘trashier’ category. Representations, particularly of African American, black women in reality television are negative and they serve to further angry, sassy, aggressive black woman stereotypes. Are black women portrayed this way because this is what the viewers want to see or are black women perceived like this because they are portrayed like this in reality television? The intersection of racism and sexism at misogynoir alongside neoliberalism provide the answers. Studies suggest that “African American women are uniquely subjected to the logic of neoliberalism which puts them in a no-win situation and explains their…failure in society at large. These programs employ contemporary “controlling images” of Black women: The Jezebel — “hypersexual woman with an insatiable horniness”-; The Matriarch — strong-willed, asexual, unattractive and overprotective of their children alienating men and the self-explanatory Strong Black Woman and Independent Black Woman. These are all dangerous for different reasons. The Jezebel asserts that black women with a large sexual appetite are unworthy of love, The Matriarch “stigmatizes black women and their mothering abilities by reducing them to dissatisfied, sexless women living vicariously through their children” , the Strong Black Women tells black women to swallow their emotions and sacrifice their wellbeing for others’ happiness and the Independent Black Woman is too narcissistic and is at fault for emasculating all the men in her life and thus ending up sad and lonely –oh God forbid. In contrast, I can admit that whilst they further these stereotypes, they all have an underlying message of strength and assertion which is a positive image to portray. Black women are perfectly within their rights to be strong, sassy, matriarchal, sexually active and independent but these archetypes must not be forced upon them before they are given the opportunity to reveal their true selves.

In shows where the majority of the cast represents stereotypes of the British working class, there are still non-racial stereotypes that are portrayed. Love Island (sometimes), Geordie Shore (always) and The Valleys (always) depict people whose accents, cities, behaviours or attitudes are associated with lower classes. Behaviours that are normal to the cities where they live are either patronisingly hilarious or disgustingly coarse to the audience. Shows which have a broader set of people, gain a little more respect in everyday conversation: Big Brother, Great British Bake Off and Gogglebox. Gogglebox has a family which represents almost every British family there is. Great British Bake Off does the same. The reason for its unprecedented success is its ability to transform something so every day to something so entertaining through relatable characters. Made in Chelsea evades both my previous theories for this precise reason, the storyline and the characters aren’t relatable. Made in Chelsea is a gentle mockery of the British high class. The borderline incestual love life and eternal gossip is entirely unrelatable to the majority of its audience, but that appears to be the appeal. There problems are so, so funny and I will never, ever have to go through them- it’s so distant that I can laugh without even feeling slightly bad about it.

Now, I’ll make a half-hearted attempt to defend myself and my Love and Hip Hop watching friends. Reality television is a microcosm of society. There are small niches and mainstream versions which each represent different personalities, experiences, cultures, ages and lifestyles. I started Bad Girls Club with one eye half open, wincing but further, I realised that these girls represents smaller parts of my personalities that I never truly have the opportunity to explore, so I live vicariously through these characters and they get paid very, very sweetly for it.