Abstract
Following Norman K. Denzin’s theory on media message transmittance and audience engagement this study sought to examine the gendered messages being communicated through the reality television program “The Bad Girls Club”. Season four of the show was transcribed in an ethnographic approach; with efforts to fully engulf in the culture and sub-society of “The Bad Girls Club” and with the self-proclaimed deviant women on the program through a social constructionist lens. To grasp media engagement, two public viewings were held in which the researcher played participant observer in order to gage the audiences’ interaction, receipt, and implantation of gendered messages. This study uncovered many traditional feminine performances; often times masked behind masculine displays as well as the dependency of masculine performances on feminine ones; whether in others or within individuals themselves. The public viewings were able to show audience engagement all the way to an implementation stage within a one hour showing. Further researcher in gendered message transmission and media engagement by audiences is called for in the lesser studied area of non-competitive, non-celebrity reality television.