4. The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. 1. Black Women: From Public Arena to Reality TV 1
5. 2. Selective Reuptake: Perpetuating Misleading Cultural Identities in the Reality Television World 31
6. 3. Striving to Dress the Part: Examining the Absence of Black Women in Different Iterations of Say Yes to the Dress 53
7. 4. The Semiotics of Fashion and Urban Success in The Real Housewives of Atlanta 68
8. 5. Homes without Walls, Families without Boundaries: How Family Participation in Reality Television Affects Children’s Development 86
9. 6. Where Is Clair Huxtable When You Need Her? The Desperate Search for Positive Media Images of African American Women in the Age of Reality TV 102
10. 7. Questions of Quality and Class: Perceptions of Hierarchy in African American Family–Focused Reality TV Shows 121
11. 8. Contemplating Basketball Wives: A Critique of Racism, Sexism, and Income-Level Disparity 139
12. 9. Exploiting and Capitalizing on Unique Black Femininity: An Entrepreneurial Perspective 156
13. 10. Reunion Chapter: A Conversation among Contributors 180
14. Appendix: Reality TV Shows That 203
15. Notes on Contributors 207
16. Index 211