the intersectional athlete body on reality tv: mtv’s the challenge

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 5th sport’, interrogating the treatment of the intersectional body within the reality TV landscape and the influence of professional sport 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 Challenge culture, and positions the analysis within the context of the hyper-conservative politics of the Trump Era. Drawing on freak discourse and sport media, the book positions The Challenge as a rich contextual site from which to explore the contention intersectional bodies are subjected to in 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 BLM, #MeToo and LGBTQIA+ rights.

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

Laura Langlade holds a PhD in Film & Television Studies from the University of Roehampton, London.