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Black Resistance and Agency in America’s Next Top Model

Gundersen, Sigrid Gro LU (2026) SIMZ21 20261
Master of Science in Social Studies of Gender
Abstract
America's Next Top Model in the early 2000s was a global cultural phenomenon shown in 170 countries, with an estimate of 100 million viewers. But since 2020, social and established media have taken up the controversies that the show presented. The focus on the contestants as victims places the responsibility on the production and hides the spectators' responsibility for watching it. The analysis is carried out with a multimodal critical discourse analysis. This thesis explores how the contestants on America's Next Top Model negotiated and resisted structural racism openly in the show and analyses why it was not interpreted as resistance. The contestants used their identities to 'talk back' against the harm they had experienced. It also... (More)
America's Next Top Model in the early 2000s was a global cultural phenomenon shown in 170 countries, with an estimate of 100 million viewers. But since 2020, social and established media have taken up the controversies that the show presented. The focus on the contestants as victims places the responsibility on the production and hides the spectators' responsibility for watching it. The analysis is carried out with a multimodal critical discourse analysis. This thesis explores how the contestants on America's Next Top Model negotiated and resisted structural racism openly in the show and analyses why it was not interpreted as resistance. The contestants used their identities to 'talk back' against the harm they had experienced. It also found that manipulation of emotions reinforced harmful stereotypes that delegitimised the contestant’s resistance. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Gundersen, Sigrid Gro LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMZ21 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Racism, Resistance, Reality Television, Emotions, Feminist
language
English
id
9237510
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 11:53:34
date last changed
2026-06-25 11:53:34
@misc{9237510,
  abstract     = {{America's Next Top Model in the early 2000s was a global cultural phenomenon shown in 170 countries, with an estimate of 100 million viewers. But since 2020, social and established media have taken up the controversies that the show presented. The focus on the contestants as victims places the responsibility on the production and hides the spectators' responsibility for watching it. The analysis is carried out with a multimodal critical discourse analysis. This thesis explores how the contestants on America's Next Top Model negotiated and resisted structural racism openly in the show and analyses why it was not interpreted as resistance. The contestants used their identities to 'talk back' against the harm they had experienced. It also found that manipulation of emotions reinforced harmful stereotypes that delegitimised the contestant’s resistance.}},
  author       = {{Gundersen, Sigrid Gro}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Black Resistance and Agency in America’s Next Top Model}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}