Searching for that REAL Love: A Black Feminist Exploration of Dark-Skinned Black Women’s Experiences on Post-2020 Finding Love Reality TV

Oct 22, 2026

Searching for that REAL Love: A Black Feminist Exploration of Dark-Skinned Black Women’s Experiences on Post-2020 Finding Love Reality TV examines Love Island USA as a post-2020 reality genre and interrogates how misogynoir and anti-Blackness shape narratives around dark-skinned Black women. The analysis focuses on seasons 6 and 7, using Black feminist, queer, and critical scholarship alongside pop culture analysis and personal narrative. The study also links the show’s rise to U.S. nationalist and imperialist aims.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages133

Reading Time5 h 35 min

AccessFree to download

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: God Bless the Villa!

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Real People, Real Stories: Reality Television’s Spectacle and Function

Hollow Villas: Home Valorization, Sovereignty, and Social Citizenship

The Usual Suspects: Marked Bodies and Racial Abjection

Theater with Real Consequences

Chapter 3: Methods

Chapter 4: What You Won’t Do 4 Love Island: Season 6 and Perfecting the Villa

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: Misogynoir and Anti-Blackness On Love Island USA

WELCOME TO LOVE ISLAND: Structure of Love Island and the Making of Season 6

Chapter 5: BlackGirls Need Love Too: Blackgirlhood and Season 7

Conclusion: Love Island’s In Need of Love Today

REFERENCES

UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Searching for that REAL Love: A Black Feminist Exploration of Dark-Skinned Black Women’s Experiences on Post-2020 Finding Love Reality TV Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32q712sq](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/32q712sq) ISBN 9798190934755 Author Waititu, Njeri Publication Date 2026-09-11 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Searching for that REAL Love: A Black Feminist Exploration of Dark-Skinned Black Women’s Experiences on Post-2020 Finding Love Reality TV A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in African American Studies by Njeri Makena Nyathira Waititu © Copyright by Njeri Makena Nyathira Waititu 2026 ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Searching for that REAL Love: A Black Feminist Exploration of Dark-Skinned Black Women’s Experiences on Post-2020 Finding Love Reality TV by Njeri Makena Nyathira Waititu Master of Arts in African American Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2026 Professor Caroline A. Streeter, Chair From Love is Blind to every iteration of Love Island, Finding Love reality television is a ubiquitous and ever-expanding genre of televisual entertainment in a post-2020 world. None is more polarizing and captivating than the hit reality show Love Island USA. Love Island USA presents a veneer ofa color-blind multiculturalist paradise that promises to be a free market for love, uninhabited by the social order of the world which it mimics. However, the presence of dark-skinned Black women presents a foil to this ruse. Audiences witness how dark-skinned Black women—who are seeking partnership and/or notoriety on these shows—face sanctioned and stylized embarrassment, degradation, or harassment. This maltreatment is then utilized as entertainment, thus increasing the show’s popularity and profitability. This project analyzes seasons 6 and 7 of Love Island USA to question how misogynoir and anti-Blackness influence how production constructs narratives about these dark-skinned Black women. Furthermore, this inquiry attempts to connect the rise of the show to US nationalist and imperialist aims that signal an instructive portrayal of how "good citizens" engage in mating rituals. Relying on Black feminist, queer, and critical scholarship to ground the work, I utilize pop culture analysis and personal narrative to help us better search for that REAL love. The thesis of Njeri Makena Nyathira Waititu is approved. Ugo F. Edu Wendy Sung Caroline A. Streeter, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2026 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS ...................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii Introduction: God Bless the Villa! .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review .......................................................................................................... 8 Real People, Real Stories: Reality Television’s Spectacle and Function ................................... 8 Hollow Villas: Home Valorization, Sovereignty, and Social Citizenship ................................ 11 The Usual Suspects: Marked Bodies and Racial Abjection ...................................................... 15 Theater with Real Conse

FAQs

What reality show and time period does the thesis analyze?

The thesis analyzes Love Island USA as a post-2020 reality television phenomenon, focusing specifically on seasons 6 and 7.

How does the project frame the treatment of dark-skinned Black women?

It argues that dark-skinned Black women face sanctioned and stylized embarrassment, degradation, or harassment, and that this maltreatment is used as entertainment that increases the show’s popularity and profitability.

What theoretical perspectives does the thesis use?

The work relies on Black feminist, queer, and critical scholarship, combining pop culture analysis with personal narrative.

Oct 22, 2026

Uploaded by Genevieve