Quick hit from the road: All you MA-area TV fans — there are two chances to catch Reality Bites Backin Boston. Hope to see you at one of these events:

WHAT: Book reading and signing

WHEN: Nov. 19, 7pm

WHERE: Wellesley Booksmith

Why is reality television built on such blatant gender and race stereotypes? Why are women and people of color represented so harmfully, and with so much bias, in popular culture? What is “Frankenbite” editing, how many hours of tape are shot for every hour of reality TV aired, and how much cheaper is it to produce a reality show than a scripted program? Is it true that networks are simply “giving people what they want,” or is reality TV really the result of media consolidation, media economics, and stealth advertising? Find out at Wellesley Booksmith on 11/19!

And it is a HUGE honor and with great pleasure that I invite you to Trident Books on Saturday, where I’ll be sharing the mic with one of my formative influences and intellectual role models, pioneering ad critic Jean Kilbourne:

WHAT: Book reading and signing with Jennifer L. Pozner and Jean Kilbourne

WHEN: Nov. 20, 7pm

Event Reminder: “$h*t My TV Says: Revealing Gender & Race in Reality TV & Pop Culture”

…an evening with Jennifer L. Pozner, author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, and entertainment journalist Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, contributor to the L.A. Times, TV Guide, Essence, Emmy magazine and more. Moderated by Morgane Veronique Richardson of Refuse the Silence.

WHAT: Los Angeles Book Launch for Reality Bites Back

WHEN: Nov 17, 7:30 – 9:30

WHERE: Stories Books and Cafe, 1716 Sunset Blvd. Echo Park, CA 90026

Why are reality TV’s stock characters (The Desperate Bachelorette, The Angry Black Woman, The Douchebag Dude, etc.) so regressive? What are Frankenbites, and other behind-the-scenes open secrets in the reality TV industry? Why does pop culture culture reduce women and people of color to such limiting stereotypes? Find out in the town that creates them at the L.A. book launch for Reality Bites Back! Expect critical media commentary, revealing insights about gender, race and pop culture — and lots of laughs.

Free. Lively conversation among the presenters, with ample time for audience Q&A, followed by Jennifer L. Pozner signing her book, Reality Bites Back. And after: schmoozing. What could be better?

BAY AREA EVENT REMINDER from WIMN and the International Museum of Women:

Nov. 16: Whose Reality? Exposing Gender, Race and Commercial Biases in Reality TV

11/16/2010: 12pm – 1:30pm

A conversation with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentarian, actress and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner, Executive Director of Women In Media & News, media critic, author, Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV, on November 16th.

Purchase tickets now>>

The International Museum of Women is thrilled to be hosting a noontime conversation between Jennifer Siebel Newsom, actress, filmmaker and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner, media critic, author and Executive Director of Women in Media & News, on November 16th.

Just how real is reality television? With video clips of popular prime time TV shows and a trailer for the forthcoming film, Miss Representation, Newsom and Pozner will shed light on sexism and racism in entertainment media. Please join us for this important discussion about misrepresentations of women and people of color in reality TV, and ways you can demand media accountability.

Quick hit: I’m going to be on The Callie Crossley Show today, Monday Nov. 15, from 1:00 – 1:40 EST, talking about the issues raised in my book, Reality Bites Back.

Knowing Callie (which makes this interview a treat, as she’s smart, politically savvy and funny) we’ll likely focus in particular on gender and race in reality TV, and on the economic factors that drive production and are responsible for regressive representations within the genre. Here’s the description on the show’s WGBH page:

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but what if fiction is passing for the truth? From “America’s Next Top Model, to “Flavor of Love”, to “The Bachelor” (and MANY more)- what’s real with hyper-realism? We talk with journalist Jennifer L. Pozner at the top of the hour about her book, Reality Bites Back.

Tune in to The Callie Crossley Show, WGHB, at the top of the hour — and call in at 877-301-8970!

Quick hit (more details when I’m not deadly exhausted): I’m doing two events in San Francisco and one in L.A. this week. Hope to see you there!

• Monday, Nov. 15, 8-10pm: “Project Brainwash” lecture at the Academy of Art Institute, 491 Post St., San Francisco, CA.

• Tuesday, Nov. 16, noon: “Whose Reality? Exposing Gender, Race and Commercial Biases in Reality TV,” a conversation with Jennifer Seibel Newsom, actress, filmmaker and First Lady of San Francisco, and Jennifer L. Pozner,

  author

  of Reality Bites Back and founder and director of Women In Media & News. Held at San Francisco’s International Museum of Women. Tickets: $15 regular, $10 members, $5 students & low-income To purchase tickets, please visit http://imow.org/calendar/index

• Wednesday, Nov. 17, 7:30 – 9:30pm: “Sh*t My TV Says: Revealing Gender and Race in Reality TV,” a Reality Bites Back reading and public discussion with entertainment journalist Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn, moderated by activist Morgane Richardson. Held at Stories bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd (in Echo Park), Los Angeles, CA.

More details mid-day Monday

Quick reminder from the events calendar: if you’re at the National Women’s Studies Association conference, there are two chances to catch me and Reality Bites Back on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Denver, CO.

I’ll be talking shop, saying hi and signing books at a Seal Press-hosted wine and cheese reception for Reality Bites Back, from 5:10 – 6:10 in the Seal Press booth. Bring your questions, your feedback, your critiques, your love-hate relationship with your favorite guilty pleasure…whatever you’ve got, if you’re at NWSA, I want to hear it!

And earlier, at 9:25am, I will be moderating “Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Documentary Filmmaking,” a panel held in the Plaza Concourse Level / Plaza Court 8 AV. Participants and presentations include:

Documenting Ourselves: Creative Scholarship on the Margins
*Theresa Renee White (California State University, Northridge)

Iltezam and the Women’s Contingent in Budrus: Documentary Film as Feminist Intervention and Solidarity Praxis
*Jessica Devaney (Just Vision)

Of Rights and Representation: A Transnational Feminist Analysis of “Lakshmi and Me.”
*Swati Bandi (State University of New York, Buffalo)

Queering the Good Book: Analyzing Itineraries of Emotion in “For the Bible Tells Me So”
*Elizabeth A Gailey (The University of Tennessee)