Console-ing Passions : Makeover TV : Selfhood, Citizenship, and Celebrity ISBN: 9780822391234 Platform/Publisher: PQ ebrary / Duke University Press Digital rights:Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a time Subjects: Makeover television programs : United States.;
"Makeover TV" seems innocuous, as countless individuals opt to publicly transform themselves (or their homes) into entertainment for millions across the globe. Weber, assistant professor of gender studies at Indiana University, offers a long-overdue analysis of what being made over means in American culture, and given the proliferation of these programs, her work is worthy of attention. Finding one's true self, she argues in this dense and insightful critique, is the great irony of makeover TV since the resulting and more acceptable "self" is defined by external criteria and achieved by shaming the subject until she, or less frequently, he reflects normative appearances and behaviors (e.g., modeling society's ideal of femininity or masculinity and embracing the upward mobility imperative). While Weber notes that these programs can reveal our hidden fears and desires, she points out that their benign objectives belie the notion that they somehow democratize the culture. Rather, in giving each subject a "fair shot" at life's riches, these shows are the ultimate exercise in conformity: they erase personal differences and create a kind of easily comprehensible citizenship formed by the marketplace. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Brenda R. Weber is Associate Professor of Gender Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington.
