Roar Like a Tiger on TV?

Abstract

The genre of reality TV is a significant feature of popular culture and has grown to include shows that document diverse aspects of social life. The common element of these shows is that they use personal history as spectacle, basing themselves on the idea that the shows portray the real lives of ordinary people rather than scripted performances. This paper takes a closer look at one of these reality TV shows-A Baby Story-to examine how this "record of reality" works to challenge and/or reinforce established norms related to gender, race, class, sexuality, and ability. Based on an analysis of 24 episodes, we identify four main discourses in A Baby Story related to women and childbirth: (1) The birthing woman; (2) The birthing story; (3) The role of medicine; and (4) Agency and resistance. Through a discussion of these discourses, we argue that A Baby Story constructs a specific televisual narrative that supports established gender roles and dominant social norms in relation to the event of childbirth, rather than reflecting the diversity of women's experiences. By presenting this televisual narrative as ordinary or common A Baby Story potentially acts as a powerful element of a larger electronic panopticon that serves to surveil and discipline women and their bodies.

Countering technocracy: “natural” birth inThe Business of Being BornandCall the Midwife

“…Media representations are not inconsequential since it is one way in which women learn about pregnancy and childbirth (Hall 2013). Feminist media studies scholars who have studied recent representations of childbearing concur that problematic aspects of medicalized birth are uncritically presented on the screens as the cultural norm (Kline 2007;Lothian & Grauer 2003;Morris & McInerney 2010;Sears & Godderis 2010;West 2011). They uniformly express concerns about how the media reinforces and naturalizes the medical domination of maternity care and women's subordination to it.…”

Woman in the family: family policy representation in Russian media before and after 2006

“…В российских СМИ эта тенденция также просматривается: самым распространенным является образ женщины-матери (около 33 % всей образной системы) [Соколова, 2011]. Исследователи отмечают, что во всем мире последние десятилетия харак-теризуются большим интересом со стороны СМИ к проблемам деторождения и роли матери, например через реалити-шоу о беременности и родах [Morris, McInerney, 2010;Sears, Godderis, 2010], и что СМИ выступают важным источни-ком получения знаний о рождении и материнской роли [Van de Vusse А., Van de Vusse L., 2008]. При этом, согласно некоторым данным, женщины более активно ищут информацию по теме материнства именно в СМИ и действительно полагаются на них в данных вопросах Listening to Mothers II].…”

Methodological insights from a study using video-ethnography to conduct interdisciplinary research in the study of birth unit design

“…The use of video research in birth settings is less common than in other healthcare domains; although video footage of birth abounds in the public domain, notably on the Internet and in reality television programmes (Morris & McInerney, 2010;Sears & Godderis, 2011). Videos of birth experiences have been used in various studies including: an examination of the interactions between birthing couples and midwives in Sweden (Hallgren, Kihlgren, & Olsson, 2005); Australian midwives' interactions with bodily and birth fluids (Callaghan, 2007); and American women's responses to care received during labour (McKay & Smith, 1993).…”