Love Through a Wide-Angle Lens: A Mythic Narrative and Feminist Critique of the Reality Competition Dating Show More to Love

<p>Obesity is on the rise in the United States and reality television has also risen to the charge of representing fatness. More to Love was the first reality competition dating show to afford fat women a chance at reality show love. The purpose of the study was to look at how fat women are portrayed on reality competition dating shows. The purpose of this study is to understand how the mythic narrative of love through a feminist lens informed by LeBesco, Bordo, Hill Collins, and hooks are in conversation with each other in More to Love. This study found that the women were written into a fairy tale where they were afforded no ownership in their story. The bachelor, Luke, and their fatness controlled their destinies and their "happily-ever-afters." Their identity was portrayed through their fatness, gender, and sexual orientation over any other identifying markers. The relationships with Luke and with food were found to be the main relationships evident. The study found that the show is unsuccessful in normalizing fat women as equally afforded the myth of love as thin women. It proliferates the totalizing of the identity of fat while minimalizing any other identity.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Zsohar, Amy LeAnn

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bernadette M. Calafell, Ph.D.
• Frederique Chevillot
• Kate Willink
• Christina F. Foust

• Fat
• Feminist theory
• Interpretive critique
• Intersectionality
• Myth narrative
• Reality Television
• TV
• Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Film and Media Studies

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/739

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1738