In 2013, male contestants appeared for the first time on America’s Next Top Model (ANTM). This reality TV show in the format of a modeling competition has been running since 2003 and is a highly feminized space, mimicking the gendered world of fashion modeling. Through the lens of West and Zimmerman’s notion of “doing gender,” as well as Butler’s concept of gender performativity, this study uses textual analysis to explore how gender in both sexes was “done” on season 20 of ANTM. A particular focus of interest was how the male contestants navigated the work of fashion modeling while maintaining their masculinity. The notion that gender is performative rather than essential was illustrated through the exposing of normative yet absurd aesthetic rituals of feminine beauty, through the judges’ ambiguous expectations regarding the contestants’ masculinity and femininity, and through the successful cross-dressing efforts of the contestants. Overall, this study concludes that ANTM is an empirical display of “doing gender” and presents possibilities of creating “gender trouble” through routine bodily and aesthetic practices.
About the presenterUrszula Pruchniewska
Doctoral student at the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. Primary research interest lies at the intersection of gender studies and digital media technologies. Other research interests include collective/social memory, popular culture and journalism.