The Intersectional Athlete Body on Reality TV

MTV's The Challenge
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-87404-3
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 112 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 287 g

Reihe: Routledge Focus on Television Studies

The Intersectional Athlete Body on Reality TV examines the treatment of women, non-White and queer participants on MTV’s The Challenge, a physical competition lauded as ‘America’s fifth sport’, interrogating the treatment of the intersectional body within the reality TV landscape and the influence of professional sports culture.

Positing that participants’ success hinges more on identity than on skill and talent, the author unpacks and cross-examines the misogyny, racism and homophobia ingrained in The Challenge culture, and positions the analysis within the context of the hyperconservative politics of the Trump era. Drawing on freak discourse and sports media, the book positions The Challenge as a rich contextual site to explore the contention intersectional bodies that are subjected to spaces where differences increasingly matter, critically evaluating how MTV navigated differing political views to maintain audience numbers while at the same time claiming to support Black Lives Matter (BLM), #MeToo and LGBTQIA+ rights.

This in-depth and intricate study will interest students and researchers working in Reality TV studies, Gender studies and Race and Sexuality studies.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Langlade, Laura

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Theater- und Filmwissenschaft | Andere Darstellende Künste Filmwissenschaft, Fernsehen, Radio
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Sport | Tourismus | Freizeit Sport Sport, Sportwissenschaft: Allgemeines

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction 

1. Battle of the Sexes

2. The Paradox of Black Masculinity

3. Fear of the Queer 

Conclusion: Challenge-ing the Future

 

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Laura Langlade holds a PhD in Film and Television Studies from the University of Roehampton, London.