Popular Culture Review 29.1 (Spring 2018) | Page 76

like you . But hot and not crazy and actually takes showers from time to time .” She knows she cannot fire Jeremy because a sexual harassment suit would likely follow , so she gets revenge by firing one of his important crewmembers . Rachel ’ s and Quinn ’ s quest for money , dick , and power governs the arc of the season . As Bastién puts it , “ The show lets women be monsters .” While Quinn and Rachel do occupy a male space of power , they use feminine wisdom to their advantage . Their dominance is not mere gender-bending , but also an example that women , qua women , can dominate in unique ways . As Bastién writes , “[ Quinn ’ s ] understanding of people ’ s emotional weaknesses is culled from years of learning how to navigate a world that , as a woman , seeks to keep her powerless .” Quinn ’ s and Rachel ’ s pursuit embraces hierarchy and dominance theory , as effortlessly as Chet does in his conventional desire for money , women , and power — even if his efforts are couched in the ridiculous pathological masculinity sustained by essentialist notions .
The Construction of Race and Gender
The producers ’ construction of conventional categories of gender cannot be decoupled from their construction of race . For example , Rachel attempts to brand Ruby as the “ angry black woman ” wearing an “ I Can ’ t Breathe ” tee shirt and manipulates Beth Ann into putting on her Confederate flag bikini . Ruby is depicted as torn between being true to her intelligence and social activism and dawning the markers of totemic femininity , including fake eye lashes and a pretty red dress . This is problematic in that it does insinuate that these are mutually exclusive options , such that Ruby cannot have the autonomy to make her fashion statements in line with the norms of white beauty and be a genuine social activist for the black cause . In Episode 1 the show-runners also attempt to persuade the Pakistani contestant , London ( Sunita Prasad ), to wear a headscarf , but she refuses to participate in the producers ’ racist agenda .
Rachel and Quinn think having the first black male suitor is a progressive move , and on some level this is plausible . But given that these women are after money , dick , and power — in that order — the goal of this move is improved ratings . What drives these ratings is the expected titillation ensuing from the violation of same-race dating norms , such that the viewers get to participate vicariously in all of the racist tropes the showrunners attempt to highlight . This is the white , liberal , feminist racism made manifest . Rachel wants Beth Ann ’ s father to be appalled at the idea of his pure , white daughter having sex with a hypersexualized black man , though her hopes go unfulfilled . Rachel wants race to be a part of the contestants battle for Darrius , such that the black contestants manifest an historical
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