Graduation Year
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Women's Studies
Major Professor
Sara L. Crawley, Ph.D.
Keywords
Stereotypes, Reality television, Heteronormativity, Repitition, Gaze
Abstract
This paper examines how the reality competition television program American Idol serves to reinforce gendered, racialized and heteronormative stereotypes, particularly for female contestants. Through its "democratic" style of public audience voting, those competitors who not only sing well, but also perform their gender and race to standards which have been deemed by the judges to be appropriate mainstream American culture, prove to be the most successful on the program. Through a content analysis of the show's first four seasons, I find that those female contestants who begin their tenure in the contest by fitting into categories which would be considered stereotypical for their gender and race, and continue to appear and behave in this manner, move farther along in the competition than their peers appear to be more innovative. I also find that while the judges comments suggest that American Idol purports to be looking for someone "unique," the contestants who do well in the competition are in fact not exceptional, but rather fit into "conventional" performances of either white or African American women. Those who present themselves as too different, that is, "deviant" from gendered or racialized performances end up being voted off the show before getting their chance to be crowned American Idol.
Scholar Commons Citation
LeBlanc, Amanda, ""You're going to Hollywood"!: Gender and race surveillance and accountability in American Idol contestant's performances" (2009). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/2057
