Abstract
Reality TV is immensely popular, and various shows in this media genre involve a storyline of infertility and infertility treatment. Feminists argue that normative and constructed realities about infertility and infertility treatment, like those in reality TV, are central to the emancipation of women. Such realities are able to steer viewers' perceptions of the world. This article examines the emancipatory significance of representations of women on 'infertility reality TV shows'. While the women in these shows all have 'abnormal' qualities, we consider their portrayal as figurations of monstrosity. In the literature, monstrosity is understood as a way to challenge nonemancipatory norms by offering an alternative identity. Through a content analysis of seven reality TV shows, we identified four types of in/fertile monsters: the cyborg, the freak, the abject, and the childless. We show that these monsters are predominantly non-emancipatory as they all involve mechanisms of altering, excluding, or condemning infertility in relation to what is considered normal and acceptable womanhood. Therefore, at the end of this article, we make a plea for more diverse and emancipatory representations of infertile women in popular culture.
Highlights
Over the past two decades, reality TV has increased immensely in popularity and become a fixture of television programming (Mast 2016; Murray and Ouellette 2004)
Because this study aims to analyze the emancipatory significance of representations of women on infertility reality TV, we have chosen to conduct a content analysis that identifies and analyzes recurring themes and storylines related to non/emancipatory portrayals of women undergoing fertility treatment
We have taken the figure of the monster as a theoretical tool in analyzing and discussing the emancipatory significance of women’s representations on infertility reality TV
Summary
Over the past two decades, reality TV has increased immensely in popularity and become a fixture of television programming (Mast 2016; Murray and Ouellette 2004). Several theorists celebrate reality series by arguing that, with the cameras left to roll on daily life, this TV genre provides some of popular culture’s more complex and comprehensive and potentially emancipatory portrayals of lived experiences Within this argument, infertility reality TV is assumed to show alternative and otherwise obscured choices, experiences, and lifestyles in relation to the status quo such as adoption, childlessness, male infertility, or couples’ shared suffering (Edge 2014; Murray and Ouellette 2004; OsborneThompson 2014). Because this study aims to analyze the emancipatory significance of representations of women on infertility reality TV, we have chosen to conduct a content analysis that identifies and analyzes recurring themes and storylines related to non/emancipatory portrayals of women undergoing fertility treatment. The first author watched and re-watched the selected fertility reality shows and identified recurring themes and storylines related to non/emancipatory portrayals of women in infertility treatment.
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