American society has grown to love the realm of the “reality” television show.  But do the shows we love even have an ounce of reality in them?
From Jersey Shore to the currently airing Bachelor series and its spinoffs, we love to watch the lives of others play out on the screen.
As people fall in love, yell at each other, get obnoxiously drunk and learn from Niki Minaj that they can’t sing, America makes reality television the topic of discussion on a daily basis.
The genre of these shows suggests that the plots we watch are the realities of the world.  However, how many of us really live a life parallel to Snooki and J-Woww or the latest Bachelor?
In a study done by Psychology Today, a survey of 239 people was conducted to determine the reasons for watching reality television shows.  Though it was assumed in the beginning of the study that a main reason for watching the shows was to stay in the social loop and be able to participate in the office chat of the next day, the reasons for watching turned out to be much different.
A common factor in the viewers of the shows was the idea of prestige.  The idea of the lifestyle of a higher class was enjoyable to most of those who were surveyed.  The article published explaining the study said, “Reality TV allows Americans to fanaticize about gaining status through automatic fame.”  Seeing people like themselves on television plants the idea that they too are capable of gaining a celebrity status in society.
With the setting of the current economy, no one has the time to party all night long and sleep all day.  Nor do we have time to take a few months off of work to find “the one” on national television.
The problem at hand is that television is showing us what reality is supposed to be, while at the same time making the actuality of reality a blur.
So many girls in today’s society are dressing like the girls on these shows, and many have too high expectations for relationships.  Also, these shows tend to lead to unrealistic expectations of how one should look.  
Shows like America’s Next Top Model and What Not to Wear tell the consumer what to look like and what to dress like.  Girls watch these shows and want to look like the people who are on them.  This leads to a sameness forming in society, and the idea of the unique individual fades.  
We have the fortunate freedom to dress how we want and express ourselves in whatever way we want to.  In other countries women are forced to wear things that cover the simplest parts of their bodies.
The way we dress is not the only thing being affected. The way American society acts today is also changing. Children and teens are watching reality shows and wanting to act more like adults, They are using what used to be considered adult words and doing things associated with adulthood, like drinking, at a very early age.  
Not to say that there is anything wrong or unacceptable about reality TV.  It is something we all love to discuss and watch, but we must keep in mind that what happens on screen should not dictate the way we live our lives.  We shouldn’t use what ABC, NBC, or CBS, or even Disney Channel shows us is “acceptable” as a means to express ourselves.  
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Be who you want to be, do what you want to do, and don’t let the Hollywood picture make you someone you are not.