Kay Steiger talks to Jenn Pozner about reality TV:
Before Flavor of Love came on the scene, people of color were pretty much invisible in network reality shows except for a few casting choices. Then Flavor of Love comes on the scene, and all of a sudden, we have people of color all over the place on cable reality shows. But the problem is that with the increased visibility came increased exploitation. Black men are portrayed as thugs, as buffoons, as fools, as criminals, as pimps; and black women and Latina women, and sometimes Asian women, are portrayed as hypersexual, ignorant, violent, classic sort of Jezebel and Sapphire stereotypes, always as bitchy and angry. Very often words like "ghetto" and "ho" are used to describe them. I don't throw the word[s] minstrel show around very superficially. I think it really maps directly to all of the stereotypes that we used to see in minstrelsy.
That's the fundamental cultural breakthrough of Jersey Shore isn't it? They figured out how to make a "minstrel show" with white people.
