Critical Investigation essay- (Introduction Paragraph)

Reality TV shows are not a good influence for young female audiences as they may assume that they need to replicate their actions and live up to their physical appearances. Despite the gains made by feminism over the last 30 years, Reality TV still offers too many negative gender stereotypes. This is particularly highlighted in the latest reality TV show, Love Island (2016). It is a documentary genre, created by ITV and produced by ITV Studios. It is aired at 9pm, after the watershed due to its explicit content and predominantly targeted at mainstreamers, C2DE working class aged 16-30+, ranging from 70% female viewers to 30% male viewers. The show carries out a linear narrative therefore editing plays a key role within the narrative because they have to cut down 24 hours into 40 minutes. The dominant ideologies consist of men having authority over women which portrays women as sex objects, reinforcing patriarchy and in order to be with someone you have to be willing to engage in sexual activities thereby making it acceptable for a man to have sex with more than one women however when a women does shes spoken about. This ideology was challenged when contestant, Zara Holland was stripped of her Miss Great Britain  title after engaging in a sexual act on screen. However, fellow contestant, Sophie Gradon spoke out in her defence:"Life shouldn’t be about judging one another. Say, for example, judging a young woman for enjoying herself. A young woman who hasn’t harmed anyone, but a woman who has faced a torrent of judgemental and closed-minded opinions since leaving Love Island. As an ex Miss Newcastle and Miss GB, I can say that it’s time people move forward from their old-fashioned thinking and accept the simple fact that... women like to have sex!". Throughout the show, Women are being represented as sex objects which reinforces the dominant female stereotype of women being 'sex icons'.These denotation of a girl in a bikini gives the connotation of he being sexually exploited by showing off their body.