The Bachelor’s Degree: Teaching with Reality TV in the Feminist Classroom

Call for Papers for a Special Issue in Feminist Pedagogy

“Woman Takes Short Half-Hour Break From Being Feminist To Enjoy TV Show.” So reads the title of a January 2014 article published on the satirical news website The Onion about screening the wedding-themed reality series Say Yes to the Dress (TLC, 2007-). More than a decade later, the sardonic headline still captures the dominant sentiment that feminism and reality television are incompatible. Reality television programs— especially romance shows like The Bachelor (ABC, 2003-)—are feminized “guilty pleasures” (Weber, 2014; Zibrak, 2021) that, in the popular imagination, are so retrograde we must abandon our critical faculties and social justice commitments to enjoy them. Scholars and critics of the genre have long analyzed the interlocking logics of white supremacy, misogyny, neoliberal Americanness, ableism, and heterosexism that shape reality television’s representational landscape and its denigration as a “trash” cultural production. And yet, some argue that it is precisely because reality television is not beholden to the gender, race, and class-based standards of “quality” programming that the genre often offers comparatively more diversity and intersectional nuance in its representation of identities, bodies, and kinship formations (Gates, 2018; Haller, 2024; Lindermann, 2022). This special issue of Feminist Pedagogy takes the genre of reality television seriously as a cultural site that can cultivate and energize—rather than erode—students’ critical thinking skills and feminist political consciousness.

What reality television’s public pedagogy teaches us about ourselves, systemic power relations, and the global media landscape preoccupies reality television studies. For instance, scholars argue that the genre functions as a disciplinary technology for neoliberal citizenship (Ouellette & Hay, 2008), increases viewer prejudice of fat bodies (Rich, 2011; Sender & Sullivan, 2008), and endorses heternonormative sexual scripts and sexualized aggression (Papp et al., 2022). Leveraging reality television’s pedagogical power in higher education, a small body of scholarship details the utility of the genre in teaching threshold concepts and theories in business management (Quain et al., 2018), psychology (Burr & King, 2012), sociology (Radu, 2024), political science (Dreyer, 2011), communication (Rahoi-Gilchrest, 2011), and media history and theory (Burditt, 2019; Grandinetti, 2019; Saidel, 2019). Because the genre is a media-convergent shapeshifter, there is nary an issue or industry that reality television doesn't touch, making it a nimble teaching tool across fields. Curiously, however, little of this literature engages feminist studies or feminist pedagogical praxis. This special issue seeks to contribute to this conversation from an explicitly intersectional feminist perspective, elucidating how teacher-scholars mine reality television as a pedagogical resource for feminist classrooms across disciplines. 

We seek critical commentaries (1000-1,200 words), original teaching activities (1,500-2,500 words), and social justice strategies (1,000-1,750 words) that harness student enthusiasm for reality television to develop their critical analytical skills and fluency in course material. Proposals may address, but need not be limited to, the following topics:

• Using reality television to teach threshold concepts and theories across disciplines.
• Using reality television and the deluge of digital discourse it inspires as entry points into critical considerations of power, institutions, and identities (e.g., 90 Day Fiancé [TLC, 2014] and immigration politics and visa law; the cancellation of the recent The Bachelorette season [ABC, 2026] and relationship violence;  interlocking post-feminist and post-racial fantasies in Selling Sunset [Netflix, 2019-] and The Kardashians [Hulu, 2022-]; reality television, civic engagement, and local/national/global politics; reality television and surveillance culture; reality television, labor, and unionization, etc.).
• Teaching feminist media analysis and research methods with reality television (close textual analysis, critical discourse analysis, political economy of media, ethnography, etc.). 
• Classroom strategies, activities, and assessments modeled on the conventions of reality television (e.g., confessional-inspired video essays, competition-based classroom activities, etc.).
• Using reality television to teach critical production practices for creating public-facing feminist scholarship and media.
• How the genre, from its politics of representation to its industrial structures, is racialized, classed, and gendered, etc. 
• Reality television, social media, and the formation of students’ identities, consumer practices, and career aspirations.
• Information/media literacy and constructions of “authenticity” on reality television.
• Unlearning reality television’s public pedagogy, teaching against reality television. 

We are also interested in media and book reviews (500-1,000 words) of texts, educational resources, and documentaries useful for teaching about/with reality television. We ask that criticism be constructive in nature and largely positive. Reviews should note the scope and purpose of the work, as well as its usefulness to educators. 

Submissions must follow the journal’s style and requirements. See Instructions for Authors for more information.

To propose an article, please submit a 200-300-word abstract that indicates the prospective piece’s category (critical commentary, original teaching activity, social justice strategy, or media/book review). Authors with accepted proposals will be required to complete blind reviews of two other accepted articles. Please only submit a proposal if you can commit to this term. 

The timeline for the special issue is as follows:

• Proposal abstracts (200-300 words) due: August 21, 2026
• Notice of acceptance: September 4, 2026 
• Full drafts due: January 8, 2027 
• 2 Peer reviews due: February 12, 2027 
• Revised drafts due: April 9, 2027

Please send all inquiries and proposal submissions to Krystal Cleary (kcleary@tulane.edu) with “Feminist Pedagogy Special Issue” in the subject heading.

References

Burditt, R. (2019). Reality TV, genre theory, and shaping the real. Teaching Media Quarterly, 7(3). https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/tmq/article/view/2105/1669

Burr, V., & King, N. (2012). “You’re in cruel England now!”: Teaching research ethics through reality television.Psychology Learning and Teaching, 11(1), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2012.11.1.22

Dreyer, D. R. (2011). Learning from popular culture: The “politics” of competitive reality television programs. PS: Political Science & Politics, 44(2), 409–413. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096511000254

 Gates, R. (2018). Double negative: The black image and popular culture. Duke University Press.

Grandinetti, J. J. (2019). Teaching the lineage of televisual control and reality TV. Teaching Media Quarterly, 7(3). https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/tmq/article/view/2095/1668

 Haller, B. A. (2024). Disabled people transforming media culture for a more inclusive world. Routledge.

Lindermann, D. J. (2022). True story: What reality TV says about us. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Ouellette, L. & Hay, J. (2008). Better living through reality TV. Blackwell.

Papp, L. J., Ward, L. M., & Marshall, R. A. (2022). Contributions of reality TV consumption to college women’s endorsement of the heterosexual script and acceptance of sexualized aggression. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 46(1), 50–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843211044686

Quain, B., Bokunewicz, J. F., & Criscione-Naylor, N. M. (2018). The profit: Using reality TV to teach management theories and strategies. Cogent Education, 5(1), Article 1444326. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2018.1444326

Radu, M. B. (2024). Teaching sociology through reality TV: Understanding society through the small screen. Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, 8(2), Article 3. https://doi.org/]10.59620/2644-2132.1159

Rahoi-Gilchrest, R. L. (2011). The semiotics of teaching with reality TV: A theory-based approach to teaching and modeling communication theory. Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal, 38(1), 83-91.                                                                               https://doi.org/10.56816/2471-0032.1057

Rich, E. (2011). “I see her being obesed!”: Public pedagogy, reality media and the obesity crisis. Health, 15(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459309358127

Saidel, E. (2019). Emotional spectacle and reality television: Constructing the authentic. Teaching Media Quarterly, 7(3). https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/tmq/article/view/2053/1681

Sender, K., & Sullivan, M. (2008). Epidemics of will, failures of self-esteem: Responding to fat bodies in The Biggest Loser and What Not to Wear. Continuum, 22(4), 573–584. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310802190046

Weber, B. R. (2014). Trash talk: Gender as an analytic on reality television. In B. R. Weber (Ed.), Reality gendervision: Sexuality and gender on transatlantic reality television       (pp.1-34). Duke University Press.

Woman takes short half-hour break from being feminist to enjoy TV show (2014, January 23).      The Onion. Retrieved June 1, 2026, from https://theonion.com/woman-takes-short-half-hour-break-from-being-feminist-t-1819576049/.

Zibrak, A. (2021). Avidly reads guilty pleasures. New York University Press.