Losing Sight of Ourselves: Applying Durkheim. Giddens, Baudrillard and Vaknin to Reality Television

An application of theory to various reality television shows in order to discuss the emergence and encouragement of the false self in our society is the focus of this work. Toddlers and Tiaras, Hoarders and Sister Wives are the three television shows that will be analyzed by using content analysis in order to examine the effects of consumerism, narcissism and the emergence of the false self. The limitless character of the economy coupled with narcissism and an increased focus on the self contributes to the development of the false self within the individual. People may not even be aware of the push to be narcissistic, focused on our own biographies and self-promotion, yet people are aware of their suffering and unhappiness. Many individuals are left questioning why it is that they are never completely satisfied even as they accumulate notoriety, success, material wealth and possessions. An ideology of greatness and being the best is found in so many avenues of our daily lives, and at times it can be overwhelming, and if we do not possess these skills and qualities we are encouraged to just fake it.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology

Grantor

Texas A&M University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Collins, Megan Elizabeth

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mestrovic, Stjepan

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• McIntosh, Alex
• Heuman, Joshua

• narcissism
• consumerism
• false self
• individual
• construction of the self
• reality television
• Sister Wives
• polygamy
• Toddlers and Tiaras
• beauty pageants
• Hoarders
• hoarding
• fakeness
• appearances

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-12-8903

OAI record oai:identifier

https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Aoaktrust.library.tamu.edu%3A1969.1%2FETD-TAMU-2010-12-8903