Abstract
Using episodes of ITV2’s Love Island (2016–2020) as a case study, this paper explores the extent to which reality dating shows perpetuate sexist attitudes towards women through a heteronormative focus. Examining the operation of gender roles in Love Island, in the context of emotional intimacy and physical intimacy, this paper proposes that the performance and portrayal of heteronormative ideals disadvantage women. Specifically, by presenting female contestants as overly emotional and irrational, outdated stereotypes surrounding emotionality and hysteria are reproduced within Love Island. Moreover, the stigmatization of sex-positive women in Love Island demonstrates the existence of a sexual double standard wherein male contestants are celebrated for their sexual prowess, while female contestants are shamed and deemed unruly, by virtue of their sexual dominance. Fundamentally, this paper contributes to research on contemporary sexualities by demonstrating how, despite the cultural shift towards greater gender equality, traditional gendered ideals continue to exist in heterosexual relationships, which serve to disadvantage women.
Highlights
In sociological research and popular culture, “masculinity” and “femininity” are conceptualized to be reflexive constructions, adapting alongside social, cultural, and political developments (Kaplan et al, 2017)
While scholarship suggests intimate relationships have become detraditionalized in Western societies, departing from traditional heteronormative ideals, toward greater autonomy and diverse sexualities (Giddens, 1992), this paper draws attention to the existence of traditional and heteronormative ideals in contemporary intimacy, supporting suggestions that “romantic relationships are the arena in which traditional gender ideologies are upheld most strongly” (Sweet, 2019: 855) and are, “the place to look for the ongoing animation of traditional ideologies”
As gender roles are not universally fixed but rather “intricately connected to social, cultural and economic contexts” (Haywood, 2018: 26), with cultural trends toward greater gender equality, roles within intimate relationships became diversified from the heteronormative ideal, marking the transition towards greater autonomy and diverse sexual identities (Giddens, 1992)
Summary
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Gender, Sex and Sexualities, a section of the journal Frontiers in Sociology. Using episodes of ITV2’s Love Island (2016–2020) as a case study, this paper explores the extent to which reality dating shows perpetuate sexist attitudes towards women through a heteronormative focus. Examining the operation of gender roles in Love Island, in the context of emotional intimacy and physical intimacy, this paper proposes that the performance and portrayal of heteronormative ideals disadvantage women. The stigmatization of sex-positive women in Love Island demonstrates the existence of a sexual double standard wherein male contestants are celebrated for their sexual prowess, while female contestants are shamed and deemed unruly, by virtue of their sexual dominance. This paper contributes to research on contemporary sexualities by demonstrating how, despite the cultural shift towards greater gender equality, traditional gendered ideals continue to exist in heterosexual relationships, which serve to disadvantage women
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