The Anthropology of Love Island
I have said it once, and I will say it again, and I will shout it from every rooftop if I have to: reality television is fantastic. I don’t personally believe in the phrase “guilty pleasure” because I don’t think any pleasure should make you feel guilty about unless it hurts someone. Reality television is a plain old pleasure. But it can also be useful to budding anthropologists. I used to encourage students to go to public places and people-watch as a test run of their anthropological skills. Reality television is like this, but on a massive scale. I’ve mentioned it on podcasts before, that reality television is a great way to explore sociology and anthropology, so today I’m going to demonstrate what can be gleaned from an anthropological lens through what is arguably the biggest reality television show on right now: Love Island.
This is the first article I am posting on Medium. It’s free to read for a certain amount of reads, but will require a paid account after that. Blog posts here will be also posted on Medium for free, with an occasional post that is unique to Medium. You can read the rest of The Anthropology of Love Island on Medium, or by clicking here.