Consumption, Femininity and the City in the Real Housewives of Johannesburg: A Content Analysis of a Franchise

Abstract

The following study explores how consumption, femininity and theorizations of the city are presented to the audience in The Real Housewives of Johannesburg. While the Real Housewives franchise is a global text with numerous iterations in a range of countries, The Real Housewives of Johannesburg is the first South African (and African) version of the programme. The study begins with an outline of the ways in which the city is represented, before moving to define the ‘spirit’ of Johannesburg. As will be demonstrated through the findings of a quantitative content analysis, this is inherently tied to automobility. By way of a subsequent textual analysis, challenges to automobility are also discussed, along with an analysis of luxury consumption in Johannesburg, and the ways in which it is racialized. This research then considers how the postfeminist undertones for which the Real Housewives is known translate into a South African context. Issues like sexual respectability are explored in-depth, as is the concept of being the ‘perfect’ hostess. The thesis concludes with a note concerning how The Real Housewives of Johannesburg highlight local South African cultures through glocalization of a global media text.