The New Reality of Reality Stars
Art by Natasha Arnowitz
It’s no secret that today’s reality TV stars have infiltrated every aspect of our lives. From Kylie Jenner becoming the youngest “self-made” billionaire, to the Dance Moms girls becoming Instagram famous at age 13, reality stars are an essential part of our lives, whether we like it or not.
For years, reality television was seen and perhaps is still seen as one of the lowest forms of content. Trashy, scripted, and teaching viewers poor morals are just some of the popular criticisms people attribute to the genre.
While there will always be fights on Big Brother that leave viewers questioning the safety of the contestants, slowly but surely, things have been starting to look up.
Demi Burnett, seen on The Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise, made history this year when she openly dated her now fiancé Kristian Haggerty on the show. Although Jaimi King, who was a participant on the show in 2017, identified as bisexual, Burnett and Haggerty were the first same-sex couple featured on the show.
Of course, they weren’t the first same-sex couple seen on television, but for the typically heteronormative “Bachelor Nation” crowd, it was a large step in the right direction. Most Bachelor fans welcomed Burnett’s sexuality with open arms, and for many, it was a beacon of hope.
One Emerson student, who wishes to use the pseudonym Anna Tudor, expresses how inspiring it was to see a gay couple on one of her favorite TV shows. “It was really refreshing to see someone go through the mental and social struggles everybody in the LGBTQ+ community knows about, but nobody ever sees on television. It made me feel less alone.”
As Tudor mentions, one of the main problems Burnett and Haggerty struggled with on the show was Burnett’s fear of people giving them strange looks on the street, or being grossed out by two girls kissing. Not only does this sentiment resonate with members of the LGBTQ+ community, but it also sheds light on these shared struggles for the majority heterosexual audience.
Representation continues to be increasingly important. According to a 2018 study by GLAAD, only 8.8 percent of 857 series regulars on broadcast TV openly identify as gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. While that number will (hopefully) continue to increase, it’s up to the stars with a platform to let the younger generation know that it is possible to be yourself and follow your dreams, regardless of your sexual or gender identity.
On top of representation, reality stars are making large strides in regards to activism. All the members of Netflix’s Queer Eye are actively vocal on social media about issues that matter to them. Jonathan Van Ness, in particular, is making deliberate moves in the right direction.
From endorsing presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren to sharing his struggles with addiction and HIV, he aims to be a voice to those who don’t have one.
“When Queer Eye came out, it was really difficult because I was like, ‘Do I want to talk about my status? And then I was like, ‘The Trump administration has done everything they can do to have the stigmatization of the LGBT community thrive around me...I do feel the need to talk about this,” Van Ness states in an interview with The New York Times in September 2019.
Van Ness is now vocal about his HIV positive diagnosis and hopes he can inspire others to be as well. These kind of powerful gay icons are vital for the LGBTQ+ community; LGBTQ+ viewers now see someone like them thriving despite the harsh political climate.
“You are never too broken to be fixed,” preaches Van Ness in his memoir, Over The Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, a 2019 New York Times Best-Seller. As he continues to “fix” those on Queer Eye, it’s important to remember that these new reality stars genuinely want to see a better world, and they aren’t afraid to be vocal about it.
Sure, Kylie Jenner’s latest relationship scandal will always be trending on Twitter, but these days, so will the positive news that we often overlook. Even though Kim Kardashian hasn’t exactly been the best example in the past, she too has been using her platform to advocate for prison reform, amongst various other social issues.
Times are changing, and many reality stars are ready to use their voices for good. We just have to be willing to let them.