Gender Roles and Representation in Reality TV series, I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant

Abstract

Reality TV (RTV) is a form of entertainment that attempts to portray “the real” by reproducing, narrating, and documenting both extraordinary and ordinary everyday life (Palmer 123). Since the definition of RTV is quite broad, this thesis focuses on how RTV “circulates ideologies, myths and templates for living that might be called educational in nature” (Ouellette and Murry 4). In brief, RTV perpetuates certain ideologies and hegemonic norms through visual representations, because it remains invisible and therefore, able to shape society’s understanding of reality. Research states that RTV is a reliable source for expecting mothers and is able to influence the perspective of prospective mothers and their views on motherhood (Vitek and Ward 1290). This thesis examines how RTV reinforces hegemonic ideologies within gender role expectations and stereotypes within the series I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant (2020).