Normally I
do not watch reality television shows. However, my mother loves to watch The Bachelor, and is always very excited
for the show at night. The show follows a man as he tries to find his perfect
match among a multitude of women. Each week, a few of the women are eliminated
until the man can finally choose his future wife. The activities that occur in each
episode are, to some extent, unscripted and thus “realistic.” However, it’s
also obvious that some events are scripted. Additionally, there is usually one woman
to play the classic “bitch” role. Even though the audience generally hates this
woman, as they are meant to, she manages to avoid elimination for an unusually
long amount of time, simply so that she can create additional drama.
The premise
of the show, to begin with, is already sexist. One man, Ben, is surrounded by a
crowd of women who are all in love with him from the very beginning. This
portrays the man as a “player” and makes the women seem interchangeable,
objectifying them to an extent. Throughout the seasons, the bachelor is tall,
white, fit, and is considered handsome by society’s standards. The women are shorter
than the bachelor, thin, attractive, and almost always white. The women are
usually not particularly intelligent or athletic.
The show
places the women at odds with each other inherently, but it exemplifies their
aggression towards each other. In the second episode of season 20, one woman
already said, “I will not murder Lace, but she may just tactfully disappear,”
after losing one of the little activities. Later, another woman stated, “Knowing
that Jennifer got to kiss him makes me aggravated,” showing the jealousy that
women as supposed to feel. One of the images I linked below shows this
exaggerated jealousy that the women feel about not getting to spend time with
the bachelor.
It’s easy
for a viewer to root for a particular woman, as the show works to set up the
ideal situations for a perfect romance. It’s also easy for the viewer to hate
the “bitch” character(s). I’m fairly certain from watching this one episode
that Lace and Olivia are supposed to be the villains in this season. Whenever
another woman gets to talk, Lace or Olivia likes to comment about how it should
have been her instead. Their expressions often show hatred or jealousy
blatantly. Society’s traditional views on women dictate that women are catty
and are often jealous of each other, and Lace and Olivia serve to play on that fantasy.
As a whole, The Bachelor fulfills most
of the traditional gender roles and works to use them to its advantage.
Jealousy: http://imgur.com/u8R4HhF
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