chad6 wrote:

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Does it really have that much influence? How many people even watch it? How many "kids" even watch it?

I assume there are a lot of teeny-boppers watching it, I think a lot of the original fans gave up on the show a long time ago. Here's a little info about the ratings:

January 8, 2009 6:43 PM

MTV's 'Real World' Improves on Youth Ratings

By Sergio Ibarra

The season premiere of MTV's "The Real World: Brooklyn" launched Wednesday night, improving its ratings compared to last season among viewers 12-34 for the network.

The 21st season opener scored a 2.3 rating among viewers 12-34, ranking as the No. 1 cable show in the demographic for the 10 p.m. hour and the entire day. The strong performance also gave MTV its strongest Wednesday night in the demographic since summer 2007.

The network didn't provide other ratings information.

Compared to the last season premiere of "The Real World: Hollywood" in April 2008, "Brooklyn's" rating was 6% higher in the demographic.

The episode, watched by 2.26 million viewers, also gave the network a fivefold ratings increase week over week.

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When I said that having Katelyn on the show could help with transgender acceptance with the young viewers, I was thinking about these studies. Even though they say the results are not conclusive, I think that having openly GLBT people on tv has made a big difference in the acceptance of GLBTs in our culture.

University of Minnesota Researchers
Study Effect Of TV Shows On Changing
Negative Attitudes About Gays And Transvestites

April 18, 2005 - University of Minnesota researchers Edward Schiappa, Dean Hewes, and Peter Gregg, have published two studies on the "Parasocial Contact Hypothesis" and the impact that pro-gay television programming has on viewer attitudes on homosexuality and transvestism.

In "Will & Grace and the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis," the authors theorized that continual exposure to gay characters on television programs can help reduce prejudice against sexual minority groups. The authors observe that the "content hypothesis" holds that intergroup contact can help reduce prejudice on a one-to-one basis. The same theory can be applied to characters on TV shows. The emotional contacts made by the viewer with characters is considered parasocial contact and can have the same effect on reducing prejudice as one-on-one contact.

The authors surveyed the attitudes of 245 undergraduate students. Ninety-eight percent of these students were heterosexual in orientation. They were given a 74-item survey on Will & Grace and their attitudes toward the characters on the show.

Of the 245 participants, 69% indicated they watched the program "every once in a while." Seventy-three percent of the non-viewers of the show indicated they chose not to watch it or would not watch it if they had television access. Nineteen percent said they watch no TV at all. Eight percent indicated they had no TV access but would watch the program if they could.

The researchers found that the greater the frequency of viewing the show, the lower the levels of sexual "prejudice toward gay men."

The researchers note: "In short, for those viewers with the fewest direct gay contacts, exposure to Will & Grace appears to have the strongest potential influence on reducing sexual prejudice, while for those with many gay friends, there is no significant relationship between levels of prejudice and their exposure to the show."

The authors, however, also say: "Given our reliance of correlation data and a nonrandom sample, the results of this study cannot prove the causal claim that 'watching Will & Grace encourages more tolerant attitudes toward gay men."

In a separate study, "The Parasocial Contact Hypothesis," the researchers surveyed viewer attitudes about gays and transvestites who watched Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Six Feet Under, and Dress to Kill, a one-man comedy special by transvestite Eddie Izzard. Transvestism was viewed as a "stigmatized minority group" by the authors.

"The three hypotheses tested in this study were generally supported," said the authors. "Parasocial contact with Eddie Izzard led to a decrease in reported prejudice, and that decrease was associated with specific belief changes."

MikiBoi wrote:

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I guess that's why I get Katelyn and why I always loved the transgendered community. I told a friend one time and they freaked out. It kinda hurt my feelings. I don't think I could deal with the rejection I'd get from many people. I find it hard enough as it is. I admire Katelyn and what she has done. If I won the lotto or something and I wouldn't have to worry about money or discrimination in terms of jobs etc.. I'd probably get it done. I'd love to wear dresses and wear high heels and put on make up and buy girly things. But as a girl, I'm not into cross dressing.

But just hearing about the surgury and all the things you have to go through turns me off from it. That's why its never been a serious issue for me. I guess if I was rich I might but still. I go back and forth. I'd probably not be accepted for it by the psychologists anyways. I think you have to be pretty "Gung Ho" about it.

Hang in there MikiBoi ~ maybe someday the time will be right for you.

mocha frappuccino wrote:

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I just don't get it... Don't these ppl that sign up n go on these shows understand the fact that whatever they say might be, and probably will be, shown to the whole nation? So if you've got a BF/GF, don't go seeing some other person when all of this is gonna be on national TV! It happens time n time again... Like WTF? I'd understand Ryan/Katelyn/Devyn's actions if they moved to some house with no cameras but I mean COME ON! Don't send sentimental emails to Baya, Ryan! Don't go on dates with other guys, Katelyn! DON'T ADMIT THE FACT THAT U USE YOUR BF ONLY FOR HIS MONEY, Devyn! Jeez

I think they want to humiliate the people they are dating.