The Disciplined Body In Reality TV Show "America's Next Top Model"

This dissertation is a case study of bodies in the reality TV show-"America's Next Top Model". By drawing from Michael Foucault's body theory, the dissertation argues that the body in the reality show is disciplined in order to meet the demand of the show.By the end of the twentieth century, the body issues have risen to be a major problem for cultural, social and linguistic analysis. Michel Foucault, the noted French philosopher and thinker, has utilized the body as a battleground to discuss his theories on power, knowledge and discourse. In his book Discipline and Punishment, he points out the mechanism of disciplinary punishment that is made on to human bodies by the power. His theory has a profound influence on the modern society.With the development of modern industry and technology, a new genre of media—Reality TV shows is born. It has gained its popularity all over the world. Among the numerous TV programs, the American reality TV show—"America's Next Top Model"is one of the most received one around the world. The pattern it creates has set a good example for the other TV shows. By imposing intensive training on bodies, the candidates fall into the subject of the program. The trainings exercised on bodies in the show coincide with Foucault's disciplinary mechanism. So it is reasonable to analyze the show from the perspective of Foucultian theories.In the first part, the thesis will analyze the ways of the activities control on bodies. This part will be elaborated from the enclosure of space and time. In the second part, the ways of correct training made on the bodies will be discussed. In the last part, the examination of bodies is studied.In conclusion, by analyzing the American reality TV show"America's Next Top Model"from the perspective of Foucultian theories, this thesis argues:driven by its nature of commerciality, communicability and consumptiveness, the reality TV show "America's Next Top Model"achieves its discipline on the contestants'bodies in the ways of activity control, correct training and examination.