The Intersectional Athlete Body on Reality TV

The Intersectional Athlete Body on Reality TV examines the treatment of women, non-White and queer participants on MTV’s The Challenge, a physical competition lauded as ‘America’s fifth sport’, interrogating the treatment of the intersectional body within the reality TV landscape and the influence of professional sports culture.

Positing that participants’ success hinges more on identity than on skill and talent, the author unpacks and cross-examines the misogyny, racism and homophobia ingrained in The Challenge culture, and positions the analysis within the context of the hyperconservative politics of the Trump era. Drawing on freak discourse and sports media, the book positions The Challenge as a rich contextual site to explore the contention intersectional bodies that are subjected to spaces where differences increasingly matter, critically evaluating how MTV navigated differing political views to maintain audience numbers while at the same time claiming to support Black Lives Matter (BLM), #MeToo and LGBTQIA+ rights.

This in-depth and intricate study will interest students and researchers working in Reality TV studies, Gender studies and Race and Sexuality studies.