The Real Effects of Reality Television on Society

The real effects of reality television on society. Reality television is popular all over the world. The influence reality television has on society is significant, especially its influence on the youth generation since television is a widely accessible form of mass culture. Psychologist Randall Flanery, PhD, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine tells Webmd.com (2003) that he is especially concerned about its teenage viewers, who are more than likely to develop eating disorders. Holly Hoff, program director of the National Eating Disorders Association, also shared with Webmd.com (2003) her concerns about reality television’s impact on youth, saying that reality television†¦show more content†¦That is why treatment for eating disorders is so difficult because some of the patients just refuse to admit that they have a problem, when they identify themselves with reality television contestants who seems to always be doing well, even though it is obvious that they are de aling with an eating disorder problem. Clearly, reality television shows promote the drive and motivation among our society to be thin, while simultaneously reinforcing the eating disorder problem by ignoring it. In addition to increasing eating disorders, reality television shows increase the desire to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures among society by motivating viewers to pursue cosmetic enhancements and creating moral justifications for plastic surgery. Reality television shows increase the desire to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures by motivating viewers who are dissatisfied with their bodies to pursue cosmetic enhancements. For example, a dramatic, undefined increase of cosmetic surgeries in the United States is connected with more and more popular reality shows like The Swan or Extreme Makeover I want a Famous Face. Nabi (2009) investigated how those programs increase desire to undergo cosmetic surgical procedures among American society. The results of this study indicates that viewing cosmetic surgery makeover programs associates with an interest in pursuing cosmetic enhancements. The process isShow MoreRelatedDifferent Types Of Reality Television : The Genre Of Reality Te levision724 Words   |  3 PagesReality Television Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents unscripted situations and real-life occurrences. Reality shows often follow a situation, game, or family. 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